While actress Felicity Huffman plead guilty to the charges she faced regarding the college admissions scandal, for which she’s serving 14 days in prison, the fate of Lori Loughlin, her husband, and several other parents still maintaining innocence remains unknown. Many suspect Loughlin will ultimately face a much higher sentence than Huffman, especially now that she’s facing new charges from prosecutors in the case.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the office of U.S. District Attorney Andrew E. Lelling announced on Tuesday they were bringing new charges against Loughlin, her husband Mossimo Giannulli, and other parents involved in the “Operation Varsity Blues” sting. Specifically, the new charges against Loughlin, Giannulli, and the nine other parents named stem from a third — yes, third — indictment for “conspiracy to commit federal program bribery”:
Loughlin and Giannulli paid William Rick Singer and his Key Worldwide Foundation a total of $400,000 to fabricate athletic profiles for their two daughters to make them seem like crew recruits. They also allegedly paid bribes totaling $100,000 to Donna Heinel, the senior associate athletic director at USC.
The first and second indictments’ charges, all of which Loughlin and her husband have plead not guilty to, include mail fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Huffman plead guilty to, and was sentenced for, the former.
In a statement, Lelling said their “goal from the beginning has been to hold the defendants fully accountable for corrupting the college admissions process through cheating, bribery and fraud. The superseding indictments will further that effort.”
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
