Lori Loughlin’s daughters ‘devastated’ over parents’ guilty plea in college scandal
Lori Loughlin’s daughters are “devastated” that their mom and dad Mossimo Giannulli have agreed to plead guilty for their role in the college admissions scandal, a report said Thursday.
Isabella Rose Giannulli, 21, and her 20-year-old influencer sister Olivia Jade Giannulli are afraid for their actress mom after she agreed to spend two months in jail as part of a deal with prosecutors, US Weekly reported.
“Olivia and Bella were devastated when Lori and Mossimo told them they were pleading guilty,” a source told the mag.
While the sisters are glad to see an end to the scandal their family has been embroiled in for more than a year — they “fear for their mom going to jail,” the source added.
“The girls have been spending a lot of time at their parents’ house recently, and they are becoming much more of a tight-knit family,” the insider said.
The “Full House” star and her fashion designer hubby were to face trial in October on charges they paid $500,000 to get their daughters into the University of Southern California as rowing recruits — even though neither girl had every competed in the sport.
If convicted, each would have faced up to 40 years in the slammer.
Instead, the celebrity couple have agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud. Giannulli also will plead guilty to honest-services-wire and mail fraud, prosecutors said.
Under their plea agreements, Loughlin has agreed to serve two months behind bars, perform 100 hours of community service and pay a $150,000 fine — and her husband to five months, a $250,000 fine and 250 hours of community service, according to court documents. But a judge still has to agree to the deal.
The reversal came despite the duo insisting since their March 2019 arrests that they hadn’t done anything wrong, claiming investigators made up evidence against them.
The couple’s lawyers had argued that the pair believed they were making a legitimate donation to admitted college fixer William “Rick” Singer and accused prosecutors of withholding crucial information about their case.
About two weeks ago, a judge rejected their bid to toss the case over allegations of misconduct by federal authorities.
In recent months, the feds had released a bogus crew résumé and photos they said helped the couple scam their daughters’ way into USC. The pictures showed Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose on rowing machines in workout clothes, their faces blurred.
A pal of Loughlin’s told Page Six the case had taken a huge toll on the actress and her marriage.
“She’s been to hell and back,” the source said. “She’ll pay for this for the rest of her life.”
The case has also been hard on Loughlin and Giannulli’s relationship, the source confirmed, amid reports they had been struggling but would not divorce.
The couple will enter their pleas via video conference Friday morning.
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