Several months after pleading guilty for his role in the nationwide college admissions scandal, Lori Loughlin’s husband, Mossimo Giannulli, was sentenced on Friday, August 21.
The 57-year-old fashion designer was ordered to serve five months in prison, two years of supervised release, pay a $250,000 fine and complete 250 hours of community service. Giannulli attended the hearing virtually in a suit and remained quiet during the sentencing until he addressed the court at the end.
“I deeply regret the harm that my actions have caused my daughters, my wife and others,” the designer said. “I take full responsibility of my conduct. I am ready to accept the consequences and more forward with the lessons I’ve learned from this experience. Thank you.”
Loughlin, for her part, will be sentenced at 2:30 p.m ET. The 56-year-old Full House actress is expected to be sentenced to two months of prison, 100 hours of community service and a $150,000 fine.
The parents of daughters Bella Giannulli, 21, and Olivia Jade Giannulli, 20, were indicted in March 2019. While the couple initially pleaded not guilty after they were accused of paying $500,000 in bribes to ensure their daughters would be accepted into the University of Southern California as members of the crew team — even the aspiring actress and YouTuber do not play the sport — they accepted plea deals in May.
Us confirmed on May 22 that Mossimo officially pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and honest services wire and mail fraud. Loughlin, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. The additional charges against the pair were dropped.
“The crime Giannulli and Loughlin committed was serious,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin O’Connell wrote in a memo for the case on Monday, August 17. “They involved both their daughters in the fraud, directing them to pose in staged photographs for use in fake athletic profiles and instructing one daughter how to conceal the scheme from her high school counselor.”
If Loughlin is indeed ordered to prison, it’s likely she will serve her time at Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, the same place Felicity Huffman spent 11 days for her role in the scandal. The Desperate Housewives star, 57, was ordered to two weeks behind bars after she pleaded guilty to fraud charges. Huffman, who was accused of paying $15,000 to improve 20-year-old daughter Sophia’s SAT scores, served her sentenced in October 2019. The actress is also shares 18-year-old daughter Georgia with husband William H. Macy.
With reporting by Marjorie Hernandez
