U.S. News
Reporter Kaylee Walls
TV Stars Lori Loughlin, from hit series Full House, and Felicity Huffman have been involved in the largest- ever college bribery scandal, also known as “Operation Varsity Blues”. The case settled in court on Wednesday, March 13th, and resulted in Loughlin and her husband both being released on one million dollar bail and Huffman on 250,000 dollar bail.
Jennifer Kay Toy, a single mother and former teacher for Oakland Unified, has filed a 500 billion dollar suit in San Fransico against the admissions scam. With over fifty people involved in this multi-million dollar lawsuit, Loughlin surrendered to the accusations of the elite college bribery scandal Tuesday, March 12th. She was taken into custody by the FBI Wednesday, March 13th in the morning. The case came up after another case was being investigated by the FBI. “In pursuing the lead, the government uncovered a long-time $25 million scam run by the William Singer-topped Key Worldwide Foundation, a purported nonprofit in Newport Beach, CA. Singer on Tuesday pleaded guilty to charges including racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and obstruction of justice.” says Dominic Patten, Deadline author. Phil Mickelson is now also involved in the scandal after making a statement about being a part of the Singer college network.
Loughlin along with her husband Giannulli were accused of being caught “paying over 500,00 dollars in exchange for their two daughters making the USC crew team” according to the 200 page indictment. Their daughters had never participated in crew it was just a method of getting the daughters admitted.
Felicity Huffman, known for her role in American Crime was also involved in the scandal along with over thirty three other parents and Ivy League colleges and top schools such as USC, UCLA, Yale, Georgetown, and Stanford. Most of the bribes were through athletic coaches. Parents would pay extremely high amounts of money to photoshop photos and make fake profiles to ensure their child was accepted without anyone finding out. In most cases, the parents did not even want the child to know.
Along with the one million dollar bond Loughlin had to give up her passport and had travel restrictions temporarily to ensure that she did not miss any of her hearings. This proves difficult as her Fashion Career is based in Canada. She appeared in front of U.S Magistrate Judge Steve Kim around 3pm, Wednesday. Kim allowed her to discuss with her husband, Giannulli, who was also involved in the scandal. Kim deemed that unlike Giannulli, she had no travel restrictions in the United States.
After signing an affidavit the actress was allowed to return to her L.A. home with her family. Her next hearing is set for March 29th in Boston with the plea most likely being in the millions against the District of Massachusetts.
Seen in court later that day, Loughlin claimed “yes” to many of the charges she was facing. “Loughlin is being charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services fraud” according to the indictment. Some of these charges included being imprisoned for up to five years if she is found guilty. However, it would be highly unlikely that a highly paid and previously respectable American actress would be sentenced hard justice, and there will most likely be no time served in prison.