(Update 3:30 PM ET): “Thank you, your Honor,” Lori said during her sentencing, “for allowing me to address the court and express how sorry I am. I made an awful decision for going along with a plan to give my daughters an unfair advantage in the college admissions process. In doing so, I ignored my intuition and allowed myself to be persuaded from my moral compass. I thought I was acting out of love for my children. But in reality, it only undermined and diminished my daughter’s abilities and accomplishments. More broadly and more importantly, I now understand that my decision helped exacerbate existing inequalities in society in general and the higher education system more specifically. That realization weighs heavily on me.”
Orginal: Bye-bye, Aunt Becky. Lori Loughlin, 56, will be joining her husband, Mossimo Giannulli in jail. Hours after Lori’s husband was sentenced for his part in “Operation Varsity Blues” — aka the nationwide college admissions sandal — the Fuller House actress also learned her fate. Lori was sentenced via a virtual Zoom hearing on Friday, Aug. 21, getting two months in prison, a $150,000 fine, and 100 hours of community service.
This was the punishment prosecutors recommended in a memo filed with the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts on Monday (Aug. 17), according to NBC News. Earlier in the day, the judge accepted Moss’s plea deal, sentencing him to five months in prison, fining him $250,000, and giving him 250 hours of community service. He has until Nov. 19, 2020, to surrender himself to prison.
The hearing comes just months after Lori and her husband Moss, 57, pleaded guilty in the college admissions scandal. The couple was found to have paid half a million dollars to Operation Varsity Blues ring leader Rick Singer to gain admission to the prestigious University of Southern California for their two daughters Olivia Jade Giannulli, 20, and Isabella Rose Giannulli, 21.
In particular, the former students gained admission to the institution under the guise of joining the crew team — going as far to photoshop images that showed them doing the sport — when neither actually practiced the competitive sport. Olivia’s application also included a detailed resume that said she was “highly skilled” as a rower and had earned multiple gold medals. In an email obtained by prosecutors, Rick emailed Mossimo and said “It would probably help to get a picture with her on an ERG in workout clothes like a real athlete too.” The designer responded by saying, “Fantastic. Will get all.” In the images later obtained, the girls’ faces are blurred but show them exercising in athleisure wear on ERG machines.
Lori initially plead guilty before changing her tune on May 21, which was confirmed by the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts, who confirmed Lori and Mossimo — who married in 1997 — entered a plea agreement which included two months of prison for her and five for him. The When Calls The Heart alum is pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, while the former Mossimo designer is pleading guilty to the same, in addition to honest services wire and mail fraud.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said in May, “Under the plea agreements filed today, these defendants will serve prison terms reflecting their respective roles in a conspiracy to corrupt the college admissions process and which are consistent with prior sentences in this case. We will continue to pursue accountability for undermining the integrity of college admissions.”