Actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, clothing designer Mossimo Giannulli, are expected to be sentenced Friday for their roles in a nationwide college admissions bribery scandal. Steven Senne/AP hide caption
Updated at 1:14 p.m. ET
Mossimo Giannulli, fashion designer and husband of Full House actress Lori Loughlin, was sentenced to five months in prison on Friday for his role in the college admissions bribery scheme that federal investigators named Operation Varsity Blues.
Loughlin is expected to be sentenced later Friday.
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts announced the sentence on Twitter. Giannulli must also serve two years of supervised release following his sentence, complete 250 hours of community service and pay a fine of $250,000.
Mossimo Giannulli sentenced in #CollegeAdmissionsScandal to 5 months in prison, 2 years of supervised release during which time he must complete 250 hours of community service and ordered to pay a fine of $250,000
— U.S. Attorney MA (@DMAnews1) August 21, 2020
"I deeply regret the harm that my actions have caused my daughters, my wife and others," Giannulli said in a short statement during the hearing, according to The Associated Press.
"I take full responsibility for my conduct. I am ready to accept the consequences and move forward with the lessons I've learned from this experience," he added.
At the sentencing, U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton chastised Giannulli for taking part in the admissions scheme.
"You were not stealing bread to feed your family," Gorton said, according to the AP. "You have no excuse for your crime and that makes it all the more blameworthy."
The wire service reports Giannulli was ordered to surrender on November 19.
The couple entered plea agreements with the U.S. Attorney's office in May. For her part, Loughlin pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.
Her husband pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and honest services wire and mail fraud.
The sentencing recommendations for Loughlin's plea agreement indicate she would face two months in prison and a $150,000 fine.
They were the 23rd and 24th parents to plead guilty in the case, according to federal officials.
Loughlin became the face of the admissions scandal, in part because of her celebrity, and in part because unlike other parents accused in the elaborate scheme, she and Giannulli long maintained their innocence.
Actress Lori Loughlin enters a federal court hearing about the scheme in Boston in August 2019. Steven Senne/AP hide caption
In April 2019, the couple pleaded not guilty in a federal court after being accused of paying a bribe worth $500,000 in exchange for securing their daughters admission into the University of Southern California.
Both their daughters had posed as recruits to the university's crew team, even though neither practiced the sport.
The bribes were paid to William "Rick" Singer, the mastermind of the wide-ranging enterprise, which included creating bogus sports profiles for well-off parents hoping to shirk the traditional admissions process to get their children accepted to prestigious schools.
Singer is awaiting sentencing. He has pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and obstruction of justice — and now faces a prison sentence of more than 50 years. However, Justice Department officials said he is cooperating with the government's investigation, and have recommended a prison sentence at the lower end of the sentencing guideline range.
In all, 55 people have been charged in connection with the admissions scheme, which was first announced by federal officials in Boston in March 2019.
The Justice Department framed the venture as a multi-million-dollar scheme to cheat college admissions standards.
In addition to creating sham athletic profiles, the scheme included "bribing SAT and ACT exam administrators to allow a test taker ... to secretly take college entrance exams in place of students or to correct the students' answers after they had taken the exam."
The scam has also swept up a number of collegiate coaches.
Former USC soccer coach Laura Janke pleaded guilty last May to a racketeering conspiracy charge related to the scandal, including $130,000 in illegal payouts. Like Loughlin and Giannulli, she had previously said she did not take part in the scheme.
As NPR reported, Janke helped create a number of bogus sports profiles, including ones for Loughlin and Giannulli's daughters Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose.
Another well-known actress, Felicity Huffman of Desperate Housewives fame, was also convicted in the scheme. She was handed a 14-day prison sentence in September for paying thousands of dollars in exchange for having one of her children's SAT scores boosted.
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