Full House actress Lori Loughlin was sentenced to two months in federal prison Friday for her role in the college admissions scandal, the US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts said in a statement on Twitter.
The sentencing came as a federal judge accepted a plea deal from the actress during a hearing held via video conference because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I made an awful decision. I went along with a plan to give my daughters an unfair advantage in the college admissions process and in doing so I ignored my intuition and allowed myself to be swayed from my moral compass,” Loughlin said as she fought back tears, according to the Associated Press. “I have great faith in God and I believe in redemption and I will do everything in my power to redeem myself and use this experience as a catalyst to do good.”
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Her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, was sentenced to five months in prison at a separate hearing earlier in the day.
Giannulli told the judge he “deeply” regretted the harm his actions caused his daughters, wife and others.
Federal prosecutors said the couple paid a $500,000 bribe to get their two daughters, Olivia Jade Giannulli and Isabella Rose Giannulli, into the University of Southern California.
The celebrity couple was among 50 high-profile individuals charged in a scheme run by businessman William Rick Singer. The scam involved changing test results, hiring proctors to take exams for children and superimposing kids’ faces onto pictures of real student athletes, to guarantee college admission through athletics programs.
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Singer took a plea deal and cooperated with the FBI in gathering incriminating evidence against others in the case.
In April 2019, Loughlin and Giannulli pleaded not guilty to fraud and money laundering charges in the case. The two were arrested a month earlier on a single charge of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Weeks later, prosecutors added a charge of money laundering conspiracy against the two. Each of the two counts carried a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
In May 2020, the couple changed course and pleaded guilty via teleconference.
As part of their sentences, Loughlin, 56, will pay a $150,000 fine, serve 100 hours of community service and be under supervised release for two years. Giannulli, 57, is required to pay a fine of $250,000, serve 250 hours of community service and serve two years of supervised release.
Both Loughlin and Giannulli were ordered to surrender to prison in November.
They were the 23rd and 24th parents to plead guilty in the case, prosecutors said in a press release in May.
Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman also pleaded guilty. She served 11 days in prison and was released in October 2019.
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