Operation Varsity Blues keeps on ticking away, and this week’s already seen one update in the college admissions scandal with Felicity Huffman pleading guilty and publicly accepting “full responsibility” for her involvement in the scheme. This included paying $15,000 to boost her eldest daughter’s SAT score, but one curious aspect of Monday’s news was that although a dozen other parents also pleaded guilty, fellow indictees Lori Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannulli didn’t appear on the list. According to TMZ, there’s a definite reason for their absence — because a deal for them would include at least two years of prison time.
The outlet previously reported (last week) that jail time could indeed be on the table for both actresses, but it’s quite telling that, in terms of severity, Fuller House‘s Aunt Becky is sitting in a much more uncomfortable spot than the Desperate Housewives alum. Have (no) mercy?
Lori Loughlin and her husband are in a way worse position than Felicity Huffman … because the huge amount they allegedly paid in bribes to get their daughters into USC could land them in prison for 2 YEARS MINIMUM … TMZ has learned.
Sources connected to the case tell us … all of the parents in the college cheating scandal have been offered plea deals, but prosecutors will only accept pleas with prison time attached.
Loughlin and Giannulli allegedly paid at least $500,000 to bribe their two daughters’s way into USC. Owing to that exorbitant amount, they’re obviously staring down a more ominous road than Huffman, whose much smaller payout has led only to a guilty plea for mail fraud. This will reportedly land her in prison but for only about 4 months, say TMZ’s sources. That’s not ideal, but it’s a much more attractive prospect than more than two years, which might be long enough for Loughlin and her husband to gamble with going to trial. However, if these two wait much longer, the indictments could land with a federal grand jury, which might add more white collar crime charges to the bill (including money laundering — UPDATE — as of 2:15pm EST, that charge is now officially on the books, via the Associated Press), and then some serious prison time could happen.
Meanwhile, CBS’ legal experts are claiming that Huffman’s plea makes Loughlin look even worse in the eyes of the feds. The pressure’s definitely on Aunt Becky as her Instagram-influencing daughter, Olivia Jade, has been fretting over her tarnished brand. Considering that she never even wanted to go to college, all of this fraud feels like an enormous waste for spots that could have gone to students who actually hoped to study at these universities.
(Via TMZ, CBS News & Associated Press)
