Lori Laughlin now facing additional charges and up to 45 years in prison in new court decision
Lori Loughlin went from America’s Aunt Becky, to America’s aunt that we no longer talk to in the course of one month. The now iconic college admissions scandal that rocked Hollywood and the lives of multiple other upper class American families has been discussed and picked apart tirelessly since the news first dropped back in March of this year (2019). Now Loughlin, along with eleven other parents are facing a new charge of “conspiracy to commit program bribery” after pleading not-guilty to their original charges. According to CNN, their original charges were “conspiracy fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.”
The general consensus from the courts is that Loughlin and all the other parents involved were using their wealth, privilege, fame, and power to cheat the college admissions system and ensure their kids had a greater advantage over other applicants. Felicity Huffman was the other Hollywood starlet who was charged, however, her charges weren’t as severe due to the fact that she originally pleaded guilty, so she’s currently serving 14 days in prison and will be released in November. Loughlin, on the other hand is now facing up to 45 years in prison, if given a guilty verdict on all charges, along with the other parents who pleaded not guilty. Mark Ridell and William Singer were the two men who powerhoused this scheme for these families, and both were in charge of taking the tests, forging photographs and accomplishments, changing test scores, etc.
“I want to communicate to everyone that I am profoundly sorry for the damage I have done and grief I have caused those as a result of my needless actions. I understand how my actions contributed to a loss of trust in the college admissions process. I assume full responsibility for what I have done,” Mark Riddell.
“To an extent this is window dressing. They’re not alleging any new conduct. They’re sort of tacking on different ways of framing the same conduct that’s already been charged,” said legal analyst Elie Honig to CNN in an interview. Honig also explained that, essentially, Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, are now being charged with the accusation of bribing the University of Southern California employee’s to get their daughters accepted into the school. Loughlin offered the bribe, and Ridell and Singer worked with USC coaches and athletic directors to make sure Olivia and Isabella, Loughlin’s daughters, were in the system as recruited athletes, so their academic and actual athletic ability was overlooked to ensure that two “well-trained” athletes were joining the school.
According to Cornell’s Law Library, Loughlin’s charge was “conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, which is punishable by up to five years in prison. The charge of federal programs bribery is defined as a bribe of anything valued of at least $5,000 at an organization that receives more than $10,000 from the federal government, which would include USC and other universities implicated in the scam.”
For context, Loughlin is accused of making a fake charity payment of $500,000 to falsely paint their daughters as active Crew team recruits for the school. The crew team at USC is a Division 1 athletic team, meaning if the school genuinely believed that Olivia and Isabella were recruits and qualified to match the athletic ability of the team, that would be a hugely influential element to the decision process, and the reason for their admission. The daughters were not only recruited with fake applications, but Loughlin and Singer worked together to create fake photographs of Olivia and Isabella to send to the schools athletic and admissions department. Singer also personally worked with USC’s senior associate athletic director, Donna Heinel, through bribery and she made sure the girls were admitted as athletic recruits, according to CNN.
“I wanted to thank you again for your great work with [our older daughter], she is very excited and both Lori and I are very appreciative of your efforts and end result!” Loughlin’s husband, Giannulli allegedly wrote in an email to Singer after Olivia’s admission.
CNN reports that Heinel was immediately fired when the story first broke, along with any other staff member that was known to be involved in the scam. Additionally, Singer set up a non-profit charity organization for Loughlin, and other parents, to “donate” too. The money Loughlin donated was then used to bribe athletic and admission directors, however, since the checks were made out to a charity created by Singer, parents wrote off the charges on their tax returns as donations to “charitable causes.” All of the money that has been “donated” has since been seized, totalling $5.2 million (CNN). The exchange below is what originally helped nail Loughlin and Giannulli as a part of the scam.
“So I just want to make sure our stories are the same … and that your $400K was paid to our foundation to help underserved kids,” Singer said.
“Uh, perfect,” Giannulli allegedly responded.
The case against Loughlin specifically is ongoing, and her punishment is not yet decided, but it’s expected that she won’t get off as easily as Huffman, as previously stated she’s facing up to 45 years in prison.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
