After federal prosecutors announced their recommended sentence earlier this week, actress Lori Loughlin’s (90210) sentence for her role in the 2019 college admissions scandal was decided today. In virtual sentence hearing, Loughlin pleaded guilty of conspiring to commit wire and mail fraud and will serve 2 months in prison, via CNN.
Loughlin is known for a variety of roles in sitcoms and television dramas over the years, but is most famous for her role as Aunt Becky in Full House from 1988 to 1995 and its sequel series Fuller House from 2016 to 2019. She became one of the central figures in the admissions scandal after her role was uncovered in 2019. Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, paid Rick Singer $500,000 to falsify transcripts and profiles to get their daughters into the University of Southern California. Rick Singer was the mastermind behind the scandal, and received money from several parents to admit their children into top universities across the country.
Initially, Loughlin and her husband pleaded not guilty to the crime. They reversed this decision in May, pleading guilty for their parts. The court ruled that ultimately, Giannulli was more active in the scheme, but that Loughlin still played a crucial role. Andrew Lelling, US Attorney of Massachusetts, described her part to CNN as “a less active role, but was nonetheless fully complicit, eagerly enlisting Singer a second time for her younger daughter, and coaching her daughter not to ‘say too much’ to her high school’s legitimate college counselor, lest he catch on to their fraud.” Since they pleaded guilty, Loughlin and Giannulli avoided going to trial which could have resulted in 20 years of jail time.
In today’s hearing, Loughlin said she “went along with a plan to give my daughters an unfair advantage in the college admissions process. … While I wish I could go back and do things differently, I can only take responsibility and move forward. I am truly, profoundly and deeply sorry,” CNN reported.
In addition to jail time, Loughlin is required to pay a fine of $150,000 and perform 100 hours of community service. Due to his more active role, Giannulli will see 5 months of jail time, a fine of $250,000, 250 hours of community service and a supervised release of two years.