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Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin were indicted by federal authorities on Tuesday for alleged involvement in a nationwide bribery scam aimed at bringing their children to elite universities.
Huffman was arrested at home and later appeared in a federal court in Los Angeles where she posted a $ 250,000 bond and had to surrender her passport. However, her husband, actor William H. Macy, has not yet been charged with alleged fraud related to corruption, but he went to court to support his wife.
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Loughlin's husband, Mossimo Giannulli, was also arrested and posted a $ 1 million bail on Tuesday. The star of "Fuller House" did not appear before the court before Thursday and his deposit was also set at $ 1 million. She will have to return her passport in December.
The three celebrities involved have not yet pleaded, but must appear in Boston court on March 29th.
The scandal, at least for Loughlin, has already had an impact on his career. On Thursday, a representative of Crown Media – the group that includes Hallmark Channel – confirmed to Fox News that the company had broken ties with the 54-year-old star.
Reputation and career aside, do Hollywood stars face jail time?
Fox News spoke to Lara Yeretsian, a California-based criminal defense lawyer who has represented famous defendants such as Michael Jackson and Scott Peterson, but does not work with Loughlin or Huffman on the jail sentence that both actresses might consider.
Yeretsian predicted that "if [Loughlin is] convicted at trial could serve 37-46 months. But, if it concludes a plea agreement, could have 27 to 33 months of detention or possible probation without a prison or go under house arrest. "
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For Huffman, Yeretstein thinks that "if she is found guilty at trial, she could serve 12 to 18 months in prison" or "if she enters into a plea agreement, 8 to 14 months but probation is likely for her".
Yeretsian points out that "a number of factors may affect the range of sentencing guidelines, including the amount of money loss involved, the degree of sophistication of the conspiracy. alleged, the role played by the accused in the conspiracy, acceptance of liability and criminal history or not. "
"In fact, if the court accepts that Loughlin and Huffman are minor participants in the conspiracy, their ranges of sentencing guidelines will be 21-27. [months] for Loughlin and 4-10 [months] for Huffman if they plead guilty to plea negotiations, "she added.
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"In this case, the focus should be on brains and conspiracy architects rather than on parents and students.The brains have been enriched by overzealous parents," Yeretsian said.
"Prosecutors have indicated that they still decide to lay charges against some of the students, and I would not be surprised if many of the accused parents are cooperating with the prosecutors to prevent charges being brought against their children." students."
San Diego criminal defense lawyer David P. Shapiro told Fox News that the fact that Loughlin and Huffman are celebrities would also play an important role in sentencing. "We can not forget that people are scandalized by the privilege of Hollywood, essentially buying the way of their children in a successful life."
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"I would recommend going beyond expectations and really using this opportunity to bring positive change to kids who may have been deprived of a place in a reputed school just because their parents did not." They did not have between $ 15,000 and $ 500,000 to subsidize someone to get them in, "he added.
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