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Actress Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli have pleaded not guilty to two conspiracy charges in the college admissions they and dozens of others have been implicated in. According to federal court filings reported on in CNN and other outlets, they are waiving their right to appear in court for an arraignment on a money laundering charge.
This is the first real response Loughlin has given after being accused of paying $500K to a fake charity to get her daughters into University of Southern California by falsely designating them crew recruits.
According to People, the guilty plea was inevitable after she failed to cut a deal last week like others did. Last week, Felicity Huffman was among 13 parents who pleaded guilty to charges of committing fraud. Huffman also issued an apology expressing “regret” and “shame” over the incident. She was accused of shelling out $15K so her daughter could cheat on her SATs.
“She probably should have taken the deal, but at the time, she didn’t really realize how serious the charges were,” a source tells People. “More than that, I think she and her lawyers underestimated how motivated the prosecution was. So she didn’t plead, and then they hit her with another charge. Now she’s willing to negotiate, but the prosecution says that the deal is off the table. So the only choice they’ve got is to plead not guilty. That’s all they can do.”
Since being swept up in the scandal, Loughlin has been dropped by the Hallmark Channel, Fuller House and others, and her daughter Olivia Jade has been dropped by Sephora and others.
Loughlin faces 20 to 40 years in prison, according to reports.
