Lori Loughlin is facing substantially higher prison sentence than Felicity Huffman says prosecutor

The prosecutor in the Operation Varsity Blues case praised Felicity Huffman and sent out a warning to Lori Loughlin in a rare interview over the weekend. 

US Attorney Andrew Lelling appeared on the local ABC affiliate in Boston to discuss the ongoing trial, where he has managed to secure a prison time for all four parents to have appeared in front of Judge Indira Talwani for a sentencing hearing. 

Those parents include Huffman, a woman whom Lelling praised as ‘classy’ for admitting she was culpable and taking responsibility for her actions.

He did not have any praise for Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli however, and instead warned them that their decision to fight the charges in this case would only lengthen the prison sentence recommended by his office.

 

Judgment day: US Attorney Andrew Lelling (above in March) said that the longer Lori Loughlin fights the charges against her the longer his recommended prison sentence with be for the actress

‘What I value in the Felicity Huffman sentence is that I think it sent a clear message to the parents involved that there is a good chance that if you’re convicted of the offense, you will go to prison for some period of time,’ explained Lelling while appearing on OTR.

‘The least culpable defendant, even she got prison.’ 

He also made it clear that he would not be recommending a lighter sentence than the one month he sought for Huffman with any of the other defendants. 

‘Here is a few things working [Huffman’s] favor. She took responsibility almost immediately. She was contrite. Did not try to minimize her conduct,’ said Lelling.

‘I think she handled it in a classy way. And so, at the end of the day, we thought the one-month was proportional. It think the two weeks she got was proportional. We’re happy with that.’

He then added: ‘I think it was a thoughtful sentence.’

Lelling was singing a different tune however when talk turned to the other high-profile defendant in the case.

The US Attorney’s Office will be going to trial with Loughlin and her husband, two of the 19 defendants who have chosen to fight the charges against them at trial.

Lawyers for those individuals are due in court next for a status conference in January. 

‘If she is convicted, we would probably ask for a higher sentence for her than we did for Felicity Huffman,’ Lelling said of Loughlin.

‘I can’t tell you what that would be. The longer the case goes, let’s say she goes through to trial. If it is after trial, we would ask for something substantially higher. If she resolved it before trial, something lower than that.’ 

Huffman, 56, addressed the court at her sentencing last month, saying: ‘I have inflicted more damage than I could’ve ever imagined.’ 

She then admitted her guilt once more and told the judge her actions were ‘frightened, stupid and so wrong,’ and added that she deserved whatever sentence was handed down.  

Right off the bat, the prosecution commented on Huffman’s claim that it was her ‘parental anxiety’ that led her to bribe an official in order to guarantee her daughter a better SAT test score.

‘With all due respect to the defendant, welcome to parenthood,’ said Assistant US Attorney Eric Rosen.

‘There’s no instruction manual. Parenthood is exhausting and stressful, but that’s what every parent goes through.’ 

He later noted: ‘Parenthood does not make you a felon or make you cheat. It makes you serve as a positive role model.’    

Huffman was ordered to self-report to a facility determined by the Bureau of Prisons on October 25 by Judge Indira Talwani, who shared with the court how she arrived at her ruling after hearing from prosecutors, the defense and Huffman.   

‘The outrage in this case is a system that is already so distorted by money and privilege in the first place,’ noted Judge Indira Talwani. 

‘And that in a system in that context, that you took the step of having one more advantage to put your child ahead.’   

When you're lost out there and you're all alone: Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli (above in August) are two of the 19 parents fighting the charges against them in the Operation Varsity Blues scandal at trial

When you’re lost out there and you’re all alone: Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli (above in August) are two of the 19 parents fighting the charges against them in the Operation Varsity Blues scandal at trial

Class act: In the same interview, Lelling praised Felicity Huffman (above with William H Macy last month at her sentencing) while also stressing why it was important she went to prison

Class act: In the same interview, Lelling praised Felicity Huffman (above with William H Macy last month at her sentencing) while also stressing why it was important she went to prison

Loughlin is facing a different charge than Huffman, but made donations totaling $500,000 as opposed to the $15,000 that the Desperate Housewives star paid to have a proctor edit her daughter’s standardized aptitude test. 

Loughlin and her husband are now facing 40 years in prison and over one-million dollars in fines for allegedly bribing officials in a bid to get their daughters into the University of Southern California. 

One day after 13 parents entered guilty pleas for their roles in the Operation Varsity Blues scandal, the 19 who did not admit guilt were hit with an additional charge of money laundering in addition to mail fraud.

PARENTS CHARGED IN OPERATION VARSITY BLUES

William Rick Singer, the ‘mastermind’ 

Rudolph Meredith 

Mark Riddell 

John Vandemoer 

Igor Dvorskiy 

Gordon Ernst 

William Ferguson 

Martin Fox

Donna Heinel 

Laura Janke 

Ali Khosroshahin 

Steven Masera

Jorge Salcedo 

Mikaela Sanford

David Sidoo

Jovan Vavic

Niki Williams 

Gregory and Marcia Abbott 

Gamal Abdelaziz

Diane and Todd Blake

Jane Buckingham 

Gordon Caplan 

Michael Center

I-Hsin “Joey” Chen 

Amy and Gregory Colburn 

Robert Flaxman 

Lori Loughlan and Mossimo Giannulli

Elizabeth and Manuel Henriquez

Douglas Hodge 

Felicity Huffman 

Agustin Huneeus 

Bruce and Davina Isackson

Michelle Janavs

Elisabeth Kimmel 

Marjorie Klapper

Toby MacFarlane 

Bill McGlashan 

Marci Palatella 

Peter Jan Sartorio 

Stephen Semprevivo 

Devin Sloane 

John Wilson 

Houmayoun Zadeg 

Robert Zangrillo  

 

Among those named are William McGlashan, Manuel and Elizabeth Henriquez, and Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannulli.

‘The charge of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater,’ said a release from the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. 

‘The charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the money laundering. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.’

Loughlin and Giannulli ‘agreed to pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team – despite the fact that they did not participate in crew – thereby facilitating their admission to USC,’ according to the documents. 

The couple emailed  mastermind William Rick Singer in 2016 about their daughters college prospects, stating that they wanted to do the necessary work to see that the girls got into USC as opposed to ASU.

Emails obtained by investigators revealed that it was soon decided that bribes would be paid to have the girls recruited as crew coxswains. 

A short time after that, photos were taken of older daughter Isabella on an ergometer. 

Dr. Donna Heinel, the senior associate athletic director at USC, presented Isabella as a potential athletic recruit a month later and she was approved for conditional admission.

It was then asked that a check be sent to Heinle for $50,000 from Giannulli, who a short time later asked if he could mention the story to the athletic director at USC when the two men were at Augusta, likely playing at the famed golf club.

Singer stated that this was not a good idea because when he discussed the possibility of Isabella’s admission with him a year he thought the family ‘would be good for a million plus.’  

Isabella received her admission letter the following March, which was followed by another note requesting a donation of $200,000 to Key Worldwide Foundation. 

After the amount was wired to the organization a note was returned that stated no good or services had been exchanged for the money, which according to the documents is false.

This same exact process was then repeated with the young daughter, Olivia, it is claimed.

Problems arose however when Olivia’s guidance counselor became curious as to how she managed to receive admission based on her involvement in crew since she did not row. 

At the same time, Loughlin complained that her daughter was having difficulty filling out her other college applications, prompting Singer to ask an employee to take care of that task. 

This was done so as not to draw attention to the fact that it was already confirmed that she had received conditional admission to the school. 

 

 

 

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk