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Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to sentence actress Lori Loughlin to two months in prison and her husband, fashion designer, Mossimo Giannulli, to five months for their roles in a widespread college admissions cheating scandal that rocked higher education.
The sentencing note filed in Massachusetts U.S. District Court on Monday also recommends a fine of $ 250,000 and 250 hours of community service for Giannulli and a fine of $ 150,000 and 100 hours of community service for Loughlin for a plan to to get their two daughters accepted at the University of Southern California by falsely painting them as elite athletes.
“The crime committed by Giannulli and Loughlin was serious,” US deputy lawyer Justin O’Connell wrote in the memo, adding: “They implicated their two daughters in the fraud, ordering them to pose in staged photographs to use in fake sports profiles and instructing them. a girl how to hide the ploy from her high school counselor. “
The couple’s daughters have not been charged with any crimes arising from the investigation.
A lawyer for the couple did not immediately respond to phone calls and emails seeking comment on Tuesday.
Prosecutors announced in May that Loughlin had agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit electronic and mail fraud, and Giannulli to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and by courier and honest wire and courier fraud services as part of the scheme with Brain Rick Singer.
Giannulli deserves more time behind bars because he “was the most active member of the regime,” according to the sentencing memo. “Loughlin was less active, but he was a full accomplice nonetheless.”
The actress and the fashion designer are due to be sentenced on Friday.
The recommended sanctions “explain the seriousness of the offenses, and in particular the repeated and deliberate behavior of Giannulli and Loughlin, in their decision to allow their children to become complicit in a crime,” according to prosecutors’ files.
By winning places for their daughters at the private University of Los Angeles, Giannulli and Loughlin falsely portrayed young women as elite crew athletes deserving special attention.
Prosecutors said the eldest daughter was copied to an email from Giannulli to Singer containing a photo of her posing on a rower.
They also allege that the parents asked their youngest daughter not to answer questions from her high school counselor if he asked her to be reported as a rookie to the crew team. Giannulli subsequently confronted that adviser “aggressively” and “stated bluntly that (his younger daughter) was a coxswain,” according to the memo.
At the start of the investigation into the massive admissions scandal, authorities said they had no interest in going after any of the children who benefited from the schemes.
Loughlin and fellow actress Felicity Huffman were the two biggest names involved in the scandal.
Huffman served 11 days of a 14-day sentence in October.
Danny cevallos contributed.
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