The chickens are coming home to roost in the Operation Varsity Blues college admissions scandal, which saw Felicity Huffman sentenced to 14 days behind bars last week for her involvement. The former Desperate Housewives star was charged with bribing admissions officials $15,000 to boost her daughter’s SAT scores in 2017.
Meanwhile, Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, are still awaiting a criminal trial for their much more serious alleged money laundering conspiracy charges related to the scandal. Both pleaded not guilty earlier this year — facing up to 40 years in prison if convicted — and the famous family must now really be feeling the heat.
Case in point, just days after Huffman’s sentencing, Loughlin’s younger daughter Olivia Jade Giannulli deleted an off-color Instagram photo in which she brandished two middle fingers, tagging: “@dailymail @starmagazine @people @perezhilton @everyothermediaoutlet #close #source #says.” The photo was posted last month, but as of Tuesday morning it had been completely scrubbed from her profile.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1CI1xVJoGk/
At the time, Us Weekly reported that Olivia Jade posted the photo despite her attorney’s pleas to stay off social media. “Her lawyer’s begged her not to post anything, because prosecutors are going to question her about it and show everything to the jury,” claimed an “insider” at the time.
Not surprisingly, Loughlin is reportedly freaking out about her fate hanging in the balance, particularly in the wake of Huffman’s sentencing.
“Lori has kept a close eye on Felicity throughout the case and after hearing her 14-day sentence, she’s been incredibly panicked,” a source revealed to ET this week. “She can’t help thinking, if Felicity received real prison time, what could that mean for her?”
The source added: “Lori didn’t believe Felicity should have pleaded guilty but now watching her situation play out, she’s been in fear of what’s to come for her. Right now, her friends fear the prosecution wants to make an example out of her, not only for the crime she’s been accused of, but her not guilty plea.”
Given the gravity of the charges, not to mention the defiant not guilty plea, it’s probably best that the couple prepares themselves for some very harsh realities. Loughlin and Giannulli were previously looking at just two years in prison if they accepted a plea deal, and now it seems unlikely that they will get off even that lucky.