Lori Loughlin reports to prison to start 2-month sentence in college admissions scandal
Lori Loughlin, with husband Mossimo Giannulli outside federal court in August 2019, has reported to prison in the college admissions scandal. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
October 30, 2020
Lori Loughlin has reported to prison in the college admissions scandal.
The Full House actress, 56, surrendered to the Federal Bureau of Prisons today and will be serving out her two-month sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin, in California — the same low-security camp where Felicity Huffman served her 11 days in the same case. Loughlin, who was assigned inmate No. 77827-112, will be released approximately right before the new year.
It was originally thought Loughlin would serve at FCI Victorville, also in California, but it was up to the judge and the Bureau of Prisons.
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After fighting the charges for more than a year, Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, agreed to plead guilty in the scam, which saw them pay $500,000 to college admissions fixer William “Rick” Singer to get their internet star daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella Giannulli, into the University of Southern California as crew recruits, despite neither participating in the sport.
Giannulli’s sentence includes a five-month prison term, as he played a larger role by staging photos of the girls on rowing equipment to look like real athletes. He’s expected to serve his time concurrently at FCI Lompoc, also a low-security facility outside Los Angeles. They both had until Nov. 19 to surrender — and are expected to be apart for the holidays.
For at least the first 14 days of Loughlin’s sentence, she’s expected to be quarantined amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Once Loughlin finishes her term, she’ll serve two years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay a fine of $150,000 and complete 100 hours of community service. (Giannulli’s sentence was harsher, with a $250,000 fine along with the two years of probation.)
Loughlin said in court during her sentencing, “I made an awful decision. I went along with a plan to give my daughters an unfair advantage in the college admissions process. In doing so, I ignored my intuition and allowed myself to be swayed from my moral compass.”
She ended by saying she believes in “redemption” and will do “everything in my power to redeem myself” and to “give back for the rest of my life.”
While Loughlin was ready to serve her time, she was “still terrified about going to prison,” a source said.
Loughlin lost a lot of work and lucrative contracts amid the scandal, which she became the face of after her peer, Desperate Housewives actress Huffman, made a quick plea deal and helped put it behind her. Huffman served less than two weeks in prison in October 2019 and served one year of probation, completing her sentence.