Disgraced TV star Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli could face a minimum of two years in the slammer over the bribes they allegedly channeled to a crew coach to get their daughters into USC, even if they plead out a deal with the feds.
While her fellow accused Felicity Huffman could spend as little as four months inside, Loughlin is likely to face a much heftier jail sentence due to the amount of money she is alleged to have forked out to get her daughters into the elite school.
TMZ reports that her alleged payment of $550,000 lifts her alleged crime into a different sentencing bracket, where the recommended minimum jail time is between 24 and 30 months.
ADVERTISEMENT
Quoting sources connected to the case, TMZ says all of the parents in the college cheating scandal have been offered plea deals, but prosecutors will only accept pleas with prison time attached. So far, 13 have accepted the deals offered while another 37 have yet to proceed.
Huffman reached a deal on Monday and issued a statement saying: “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. I am ashamed of the pain I have caused my daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues and the educational community. I want to apologize to them and, especially, I want to apologize to the students who work hard every day to get into college.”
Prosecutors alleged that parents involved in what authorities have called the “largest college admissions scam prosecuted by the Justice Department” paid admissions consultant William “Rick” Singer, 58, more than $25 million total to rig test scores, cheat on SAT exams, and bribe college coaches.
In some cases, the complaint noted, the students didn’t even play the sports for which they were “recruited.”
Singer has pleaded guilty to charges including racketeering, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice.
