Lori Loughlin received a second charge today for money laundering, which is to be included with her previous charge of conspiring to commit mail fraud and honest services fraud. On March 12th of this year, Loughlin and Desperate Housewives actress Felicity Huffman were among a group of individuals charged in a $25 million college admissions scheme. The scam had involved 50 people nationwide who participated in paying large sums of money to Ivy League schools in order to boost their children’s chances of admission.
Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, reportedly paid half a million dollars to USC in order for their daughters to attend the institution. Organizers were paid to ensure admissions through doctored photos that showcased non-existent athletic abilities, while others were paid to take standardized tests for their children as well as test administrators being bribed to allow it. The original charges found Loughlin, Huffman, and others involved in the scam facing a potential maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Unfortunately, the tides have turned as Loughlin is now looking at upwards of 40 years in prison. A second charge was filed for the parents who did not enter guilty pleas, accusing them of money laundering. The parents are charged in conspiring with scam mastermind William “Rick” Singer, who had received about $25 million from the parents involved between 2011 and today. According to USA Today, the second indictment charged the defendants with “conspiring to launder bribes, and other payments in connection with the fraud, by funneling them through Singer’s purported charity and his for-profit corporation [along with] transferring money into the United States, from outside the country, for the purpose of promoting the fraud scheme.” A federal grand jury placed both charges at 20 years in prison plus fines.
This shocking scandal made the news only a few months after Fuller House was renewed for its fifth and final season. Loughlin, a long-time cast member of the 80s/90s family sitcom Full House and its 2016 Netflix reboot, will not be returning to her signature roll as Aunt Becky. The Hallmark channel joined arms with Netflix in firing the actress, where she’s become a staple at the network in their Christmas TV movies and their series When Calls the Heart. Despite her no longer appearing in Fuller House’s upcoming season, a majority of her cast-mates are standing by her side through the process, especially co-star Candace Cameron-Bure.
This news shines a spotlight on one of the many ways that the wealthy are able to play the system, especially the education system in this regard. Although it’s a terrible experience, there’s a lot for Loughlin to learn from this. One of the most important things is that the education system is a difficult one for a lot of people, not just her daughters. Hopefully, this is a lesson that other wealthy individuals that may be thinking of doing the same thing can learn from as well. If your child is unable to get into an Ivy League school on their own, perhaps they should be looking somewhere else.
