Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, are facing additional charges in the nationwide college admissions scandal, Us Weekly can confirm.
According to court documents, the U.S. Attorney filed Federal Program Bribery charges against the couple for their alleged role in the scandal. Loughlin, 55, and Giannulli, 56, who were indicted in March, previously pleaded not guilty to fraud and money laundering charges.
“The new charges in the third superseding indictment allege that 11 defendants – Gamal Abdelaziz, Diane Blake, Todd Blake, Mossimo Giannulli, Elisabeth Kimmell, Lori Loughlin, William McGlashan, Jr., Marci Palatella, John Wilson, Homayoun Zadeh, and Robert Zangrillo – conspired to commit federal program bribery by bribing employees of the University of Southern California (USC) to facilitate their children’s admission,” a press release from United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling reads. “In exchange for the bribes, employees of the university allegedly designated the defendants’ children as athletic recruits – with little or no regard for their athletic abilities – or as members of other favored admissions categories.”
The Full House alum and the fashion designer, who were among dozens of parents named in the case, have been accused of paying $500,000 to get their daughters, Bella, 21, and Olivia Jade, 20, into the University of Southern California as crew recruits. The aspiring actress and the YouTuber, who do not play the sport, are no longer enrolled at USC.
According to an insider, Loughlin and Giannulli, who have yet to publicly comment on the case, are “reacting and handling the scandal completely differently.”
“Moss is in good spirits and continues to socialize as if nothing’s wrong — either he’s in complete denial or it’s a front that he’s mastered so nobody judges him,” the insider said. “Lori has started wearing large hats and scarves to avoid people noticing her [at their Bel Air Country Club in California.] She doesn’t wait around to see anyone, and when she plays golf, she tees off from the fourth hole to avoid being spotted by members inside the clubhouse.”
Fellow actress Felicity Huffman was also indicted in the case, but opted to plead guilty to fraud charges. The Desperate Housewives alum, who apologized for paying $15,000 to improve her 19-year-old daughter Sophia’s SAT scores, began her 14-day prison sentence on October 19. Huffman’s husband, William H. Macy, with whom she also shares 17-year-old daughter Georgia, visited the When They See Us actress at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, on Saturday, October 19.
A second source told Us last month that Loughlin’s friends were “concerned” about the former When Calls the Heart star after Huffman was sentenced to jail time.
“They say she should have followed [Felicity] Huffman’s lead,” the source said in September. “And taken a plea deal and accepted responsibility.”
