Lori Loughlin, the most high profile person to be named in the college admissions scandal, is out of prison following a two month sentence for her role in the scam. The actress pleaded guilty to charges of mail fraud over her role in the scandal earlier this year, and entered prison in late October to carry out the two month sentence. Meanwhile her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, pleaded guilty as well and entered prison in November to serve a five-month sentence.
Loughlin, famous for her role as Aunt Becky in Full House and its Netflix spinoff, Fuller House, admitted to paying $500,000 to William Singer, the leader of the scam that ran a secret business offering to guarantee acceptance into Ivy League schools in the United States for a hefty fee. Through a network of participating college officials—including athletic coaches and admissions officials—students were able to scam their way into colleges like USC by posing as athletes.
The company, called the Key Worldwide Foundation, appeared publicly to be a charitable foundation that was—in secret—operating a college admissions scam that allowed wealthy parents to bypass the admissions process for their children. Payments for these services were disguised as charitable donations before the operation was exposed in March of 2019.
Loughlin, who was one of the parents that paid Singer to get her daughter into USC, helped her daughter Olivia Jade Giannulli pose as a rowing athlete to get into the school. Giannulli nor her sister (who Loughlin also paid to be admitted into the school through the same scheme) had never rowed prior to taking the photos that were submitted to the school as part of her admissions process.
Both Loughlin and Giannulli are among the last of the parents involved in the scandal to compete their sentencing. Actress Felicity Huffman, who also paid Singer to have someone impersonate her daughter to take the SAT on her behalf. Huffman faced charges of mail fraud, as well as honest services fraud, and was later sentenced to 14 days in jail and one year of supervised release. She also faced fines of $30,000 and has to complete 250 hours of community service.
Now that Loughlin has completed her two month prison sentence, she faces fines of $150,000 and must complete 150 hours of community service with two years of supervised release. Giannulli, her husband, is required to pay $250,000 in fines and must serve 250 hours of community service after completing his five month prison sentence. Giannulli will also face two years of supervised release following his release from prison in a couple of months.
