Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, were offered a plea deal in the Operation Varsity Blues scandal, but if they accept, they could spend at LEAST two years behind bars, according to a new report.
The public is still waiting to find out if Lori Loughlin will follow in Felicity Huffman’s footsteps and accept a plea deal for her alleged involvement in the college admissions bribery scandal. While Felicity is expected to serve as little as four months in prison for pleading guilty to the charges against her, Lori and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, face much higher charges because of the amount ($500,000) they allegedly paid a USC crew coach to get their daughters, Isabella and Olivia Jade, on the team, according to TMZ. The site reports that this higher payment means Lori and Mossimo’s plea deal will include be “a minimum prison sentence of 2 to 2 and a half years.”
Fifty people have been charged in this lawsuit, which has been nicknamed Operation Varsity Blues. Felicity and 12 other parents who were allegedly involved in the scandal agreed to plead guilty on April 8, with the Desperate Housewives star releasing a statement taking “full responsibility” for her actions. “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,” Felicity said. “I am ashamed of the pain I have caused my daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues and the educational community.”
Felicity allegedly paid $15,000, which was designed as a ‘charitable donation,’ to the Key Worldwide Foundation, in order to have someone allegedly change her daughter, Sofia’s, SAT scores. Altogether, it’s suspected that the accused parents paid more than $25 million in bribes to get their children into some of the country’s most elite universities.
Lori and the remaining parents who have yet to accept a plea deal are reportedly being urged by prosecutors to do so quickly, according to TMZ. The site claims that if these other defendants don’t plead guilty soon, new charges will be added that will increase the possible prison time.