Oct. 31 (UPI) — Actor Lori Loughlin reported to federal prison in California on Friday to begin serving a two-month sentence for taking part in a scam to get her daughters admitted into college.
The Full House star surrendered to the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, Calif., the same San Francisco-area facility where fellow actor Felicity Huffman served her sentence for a related conviction, authorities told NBC News.
Loughlin’s husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, is set to report to prison Nov. 19 to serve a five-month sentence.
They were both sentenced in August after pleading guilty in Boston to conspiring to fraudulently secure admission for their two daughters to the University of Southern California.
The couple first vigorously fought the charges but lost a bid to get them dismissed in May before entering their guilty pleas.
“I deeply regret the harm that my actions have caused my daughters, my wife and others,” Giannulli said in a statement during the August hearing. “I take full responsibility for my conduct. I am ready to accept the consequences and move forward with the lessons I’ve learned from this experience.”
The judge also sentenced Loughlin to 150 hours of community service and ordered her to pay a $150,000 fine, and Giannulli to two years of supervised release, 250 hours of community service and a $250,000 fine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts.
Giannulli and Loughlin were part of a group of wealthy parents, college staffers and coaches caught in a scam led by William “Rick” Singer designed to get their children admitted to selective colleges.
As part of the scheme, Singer would work with college admissions personnel and coaches to fraudulently get the students admitted into some schools as athletes while facilitating cheating on entrance exams in other incidents.
In Giannulli and Loughlin’s case, their oldest daughter won provisional admission into USC as a rowing recruit, even though she never participated in the sport. A school athletic official received $50,000 in the scam, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said they believe Giannulli participated in the scheme more aggressively than Loughlin.
