After more than a year of maintaining their innocence, Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli have agreed to plead guilty as part of a plea deal in the nationwide college admissions scandal.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced on Thursday, May 21, that the 55-year-old Full House actress will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. The 56-year-old fashion designer, for his part, will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and honest services wire and mail fraud.
![Lori Loughlin Mossimo Giannulli to Plead Guilty in College Case](/https/www.usmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Lori-Loughlin-Mossimo-Giannulli-to-Plead-Guilty-in-College-Case.jpg?w=1000&quality=86&strip=all)
According to the press release, Loughlin’s plea deal includes two months in prison, a $150,000 fine and two years of supervised release with 100 hours of community service. Giannulli, meanwhile, is expected to spend five months in prison, pay a $250,000 fine, serve two years of supervised release and serve 250 hours of community service. A judge still has to sign off on the agreement.
“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,” United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling said in a press release on Thursday.
Loughlin and Giannulli were arrested in March 2019 after they were accused of paying bribes to facilitate daughters Bella and Olivia Jade’s admission into the University of Southern California as crew recruits. While Bella, 21, and Olivia Jade, 20, do not play the sport, of the aspiring actress and the YouTuber on rowing machines were released by federal prosecutors in April.
Loughlin and Giannulli’s decision to change their plea from not guilty to guilty comes less than a month after a judge refused to dismiss the charges against them and several other parents connected to the case.
An insider previously told Us Weekly that the pair were confident the judge would side with them, alleging prosecutors “withheld key evidence” that mastermind Rick Singer “was pressured by the FBI to lie in the course of his conversations” with Loughlin. The duo have yet to publicly comment on the case, but according to sources, their daughters feared more “embarrassing photos” or “information” would be released leading up to the trial, which is set for October.
“Olivia is in a very tense state of mind recently. She has good days and bad [days],” one source told Us about the influencer on May 8, noting she leans on boyfriend Jackson Guthy. “Olivia really loves him. He’s so chill and laid-back that she can’t help but be comfortable around him.”
Fellow actress Felicity Huffman was also indicted in the scandal in March 2019. After pleading guilty to fraud charges for paying $15,000 to improve her 19-year-old daughter Sophia’s SAT scores, she was sentenced to 14 days in federal prison. The Desperate Housewives alum’s sentence also included a $30,000 fine, a year of supervised release and 250 hours of community service. She was released from prison early in October 2019.