Lori Loughlin and Husband Mossimo Giannulli Sentenced to Jail in College Admissions Scandal
Lori Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, have been sentenced to jail time for their roles in a college admissions scandal that rocked the academic world.
On Friday, Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton handed down a two-month sentence to the actress, while her husband was given five months in prison. According to the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, she will have two years of supervised release, during which she must complete 100 hours of community service and must pay a fine of $150,000. While Giannulli also received two years of supervised release, he is required to complete 250 hours of community service and ordered to pay a $250,000 fine.
In a detention memo released Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling of Massachusetts said that Giannulli was “engaged more frequently” with William Rick Singer, the college admissions counselor at the center of the scandal who had pleaded guilty to racketeering and other crimes. Loughlin, on the other hand, “took a less active role but was nonetheless fully complicit.”
The sentencing puts an end to the one of last year’s most high-profile scandals, which involved parents of college-bound teenagers paying others to take exams for their children or bribing coaches to falsely state their children were members of athletic teams.
In March last year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation accused Loughlin and Giannulli of agreeing to pay half a million dollars to Singer to have both of their listed as members of the University of Southern California’s crew team in order to secure their admittance to the school. (One of them was influencer Olivia Jade, who has previously struck paid deals with Amazon and Sephora.) The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Massachusetts said that a total of 16 parents — including actress Felicity Huffman — were indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, as well as another count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Following a long run with exclusive retail partner Target, Giannulli’s namesake brand — now owned by Iconix Brand Group — was phased out in 2018. Mossimo was one of the big-box chain’s earliest and buzziest designer deals that brought fashion to the masses.