Mossimo Giannulli gets 5 months in prison in college admissions scam. Lori Loughlin will be sentenced later today
(The leftists corruption and why they should be expelled from our educational systems- do all leftists violate trust and sell access to public systems- wheres Hunter?)
Mossimo Giannulli was sentenced to five months in prison on Friday for his role in the college admissions scandal, just a few hours before his wife, the famed actress Lori Loughlin, was expected to learn her own fate.
Giannulli, a fashion designer, also faces 2 years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine and 250 hours of community service, according to the US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts.
"I deeply regret the harm that my actions have caused my daughters, my wife," said Giannulli, who wore a suit and tie during his virtual sentencing hearing. He added: "I'm ready to accept the consequences and move forward with the lessons I've learned from this experience."
Friday's sentencings will bring an end to the saga for Giannulli and Loughlin, who became the face of the college admissions scandal and is arguably the parent with the highest profile who admitted to paying the scheme's mastermind, William Rick Singer, $500,000 to get both their daughters into the University of Southern California.
Loughlin, a TV star who played Aunt Becky on the sitcom "Full House," and Giannulli, a fashion designer, plead guilty to conspiracy charges, taking advantage of what Singer referred to as his "side door" into the university by creating fake profiles for the girls and passing them off as recruits on the crew team.
Loughlin and Giannulli were among the defendants who initially pleaded not guilty and were willing to roll the dice in court. But the couple changed their pleas in May and hammered out a deal with prosecutors. Loughlin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, and Giannulli pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and honest services wire and mail fraud.
Federal prosecutors on Tuesday formally asked that Loughlin be sentenced to two months in prison and Giannulli five months. Giannulli faces a $250,000 fine and 250 hours of community service, while Loughlin would get a $150,000 fine and 100 hours of community service. Each would receive two years of supervised release.
"He engaged more frequently with Singer, directed the bribe payments to USC and Singer, and personally confronted his daughter's high school counselor to prevent the scheme from being discovered, brazenly lying about his daughter's athletic abilities," wrote US Attorney Andrew Lelling of Massachusetts in the detention memo released on Tuesday.
"Loughlin took a less active role, but was nonetheless fully complicit, eagerly enlisting Singer a second time for her younger daughter, and coaching her daughter not to 'say too much' to her high school's legitimate college counselor, lest he catch on to their fraud."
Because of the type of plea agreement that Loughlin, Giannulli and prosecutors entered into, the judge will have very little wiggle room to veer off the agreed-upon deal. Loughlin is expected to be sentenced in the afternoon.
"The case went south on the prosecutors," said CNN legal analyst Elie Honig, who referenced exculpatory evidence that Loughlin's defense attorneys argued proved that she and Giannulli thought they were donating to a legitimate business. "Those documents were potentially devastating to the prosecution's case and massively reduced the prosecutors' chance at getting a conviction at trial."
Word of the evidence came to light in December, when Loughlin and Giannulli's lawyers argued that iPhone notes from Singer's mobile device allege that FBI agents spoke aggressively to him about his recorded calls with defendants, and they alleged investigatory misconduct. They also argued that prosecutors had not handed over this evidence quickly enough, only eight months before an October trial, and that they did not have enough time to prepare.
Couple could have faced up to 20 years in prison
US District Court Judge Nathaniel Gorton denied a motion to dismiss the charges and said the evidence could be debated at trial. Gorton also wrote in his decision that the defense had enough time and that the failure to turn over the notes was "irresponsible" and "misguided" not "willful," because of prosecutors "imprudent underestimation of the context, relevance and potential exculpatory nature of the notes."
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https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/xandr/lori-loughlin-husband-mossimo-giannulli-111931818.html