Entertainment

TV star Lori Loughlin and husband await fate after college bribery admission

Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli pleaded guilty to paying half a million dollars to get their daughters into the University of Southern California.
Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli pleaded guilty to paying half a million dollars to get their daughters into the University of Southern California. Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli pleaded guilty to paying half a million dollars to get their daughters into the University of Southern California.

A US TV star and her fashion designer husband have pleaded guilty to paying half a million dollars to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California (USC) as part of a college admissions bribery scheme.

Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli appeared on separate screens during their video hearing, showing no emotion as the prosecutor detailed their crimes and making no comments other than to answer questions from US District Judge Nathaniel Gorton.

He has not decided whether he will accept the deals they made with prosecutors.

Under their proposed deals, Loughlin, 55, hopes to spend two months in prison and Giannulli, 56, is seeking to serve five months.

But the judge said he will decide whether to accept the deals after considering the pre-sentencing report, a document that contains background on defendants and helps guide sentencing decisions.

Judge Gorton did not say when he would decide but scheduled their sentencing hearings for August 21.

Full House actress Loughlin and Giannulli were among dozens of wealthy parents, athletic coaches and others charged last year in the bribery scheme. The parents paid hefty bribes to get their kids into top universities with bogus test scores or fake athletic credentials, authorities said.

The couple had been scheduled to go to trial in October on charges that they got their two daughters into USC as crew recruits, even though neither girl was a rower.

Prosecutors say they funnelled money through a sham charity operated by college admissions consultant Rick Singer, who has pleaded guilty to orchestrating the scheme.

Prosecutors recorded phone calls and e-mails showing the couple worked with Singer to get their daughters into USC with fake athletic profiles depicting them as star rowers.

In one e-mail, Singer told Loughlin and Giannulli he needed a picture of their older daughter on a rowing machine in workout clothes “like a real athlete”.

Giannulli responded, according to the court filings: “Fantastic. Will get all” and sent Singer the photo.

Prosecutors also had a bogus resume presented to USC that falsely claimed their younger daughter, social media star Olivia Jade, rowed in prestigious competitions like the Head of the Charles.

Singer and the former coach he paid to create Jade’s fake athletic profile are cooperating with investigators and were expected to testify against the couple at trial.

Loughlin has also agreed to pay a 150,000 dollar fine and perform 100 hours of community service. Giannulli has agreed to pay a 250,000 dollar fine and perform 250 hours of community service.

Loughlin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.

Giannulli pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and honest services wire and mail fraud. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss charges of money laundering and federal programmes bribery that were added after the case was filed.

Loughlin and Giannulli insisted for over a year that they were innocent and that they believed their payments were legitimate donations to the school or Singer’s charity.

They accused prosecutors of withholding evidence that would exonerate them and claimed investigators had sought to trick parents into incriminating themselves. The judge this month rejected the defence’s bid to dismiss the case over allegations of misconduct by federal agents.

They are the 23rd and 24th parents to plead guilty in the case. An attorney for the couple declined to comment this week.