Full House star, Lori Loughli and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, were in court today where Giannulli was formally sentenced to five months in prison. He is also expected to have two years of supervised release, performe 250 hours of community service and pay a $250,000 fine. The sentence came as part of the couple’s plea agreements on conspiracy charges for their participation in the college admissions scandal, which the judge called “a breathtaking crime on the nation’s higher education system.”
Giannulli and Loughlin paid $500,000 to con-artist and mastermind of the scam, Rick Singer, who promised to help their two daughters get accepted to the University of Southern California as recruits on the crew team, even though neither of them had ever rowed before.
In May, the celebrity couple had each pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud. Giannulli and Loughlin were given separate plea agreements by federal prosecutors.
Giannulli’s sentencing was conducted via Zoom by U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton in federal court in Boston. Loughlin, 56, is to be formally sentenced later this afternoon. Under the terms of her plea agreement, she is expected to serve two months in prison.
Assistant US Attorney Kristen Kearney said,
“Giannulli’s conduct in this case evidenced a complete disregard from right and wrong,”
“He went ahead with this scheme not once, but twice.”
“[Giannulli] exposed his daughters to the scheme and allowed them to become complicit in it,”
“This was not simply overzealous parenting, It is criminal and deserving of the proposed five months imprisonment.”
Giannulli had his daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose Giannulli, photographed on a rowing machine as part of phony coxswain profiles and encouraged to keep their admission to USC “hush, hush”, according to Kearney.
Giannulli expressed “deep regret” for taking part in the scandal,
I deeply regret the harm that my actions have caused my daughters, my wife and others. I take full responsibility for my conduct.
