It was made public today that new charges have been added to Loughlin’s and her husband’s case, as well as with 16 other parents. Both have been indicted on money laundering and committing mail fraud.
“The second superseding indictment also charges the defendants with conspiring to launder the bribes and other payments in furtherance of the fraud by funneling them through Singer’s purported charity and his for-profit corporation, as well as by transferring money into the United States, from outside the United States, for the purpose of promoting the fraud scheme,” said the Department of Justice in statement to Fox News.
Silva Megerditchian, a Los Angeles-based criminal defense attorney and former public defender, who has no part in the case, spoke candidly about the possible charges Loughlin and her husband could face.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she got between 5-10 years of federal prison because of the amount of negative publicity in this case,” she added. “But it’s impossible to know the exact number at this point in time. If they cooperate fully, it could go lower. It will depend on how deep Loughlin and Giannulli were involved in the scheme and what time of insider information they reveal.”
Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli are also amongst those involved in the nationwide college scandal that bribed elite schools to enroll their children. Both Loughlin and Giannulli allegedly paid Singer $500,000 to bribe the University of Southern California. Loughlin’s two daughters were allegedly admitted as crew recruits, but they never participated on the sports team.
In a press conference last month, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Andrew Lelling, made it clear that the law applies to everyone.
“This case is about the widening corruption of elite college admissions through the steady application of wealth combined with fraud,” Lelling said. “There can be no separate college admission system for the wealthy, and I’ll add that there will not be a separate criminal justice system either.”
Actress Felicity Huffman pleaded guilty to paying $15,000 to William Singer’s, an admission consultant, nonprofit organization, Key Worldwide Foundation as an alleged bribery tactic.
“I am in full acceptance of my guilt, and with deep regret and shame over what I have done, I accept full responsibility for my actions and will accept the consequences that stem from those actions,” Huffman said Monday in statement. “I am ashamed of the pain I have caused my daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues and the educational community.”