Well, if you were on the fence about whether Aunt Becky should have just come clean and told Danny Tanner federal prosecutors everything, the outcome of this case should make up your mind for good.
Lori Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, are accused of bribing USC officials with $500,000 to get their daughters Olivia Jade and Bella admitted to the university as athletes on the crew team — despite the fact neither actually had any intention of joining the team, or even rowed crew at all.
Related: Olivia’s Fake Rowing Resume Is Incredible
While the Full House star is the most famous bust among the dozens arrested in Operation Varsity Blues, her case is far from unique. In fact, another quite similar case was resolved on Tuesday — and it’s kind of a slap in the face for Lori.
Michelle Janavs is the heir to the Hot Pockets fortune, which means she’s rich — but also flaky, LOLz! In all seriousness, her family is worth an estimated $4 BILLION. And she spent big bucks cheating to get her kids into exclusive schools.
Like Lori, Michelle also denied any wrongdoing at first. But the government continued to put the pressure on with new charges. Unlike the Hallmark Channel poster girl, Michelle eventually caved in and pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. (Lori still faces these charges AND has since also been hit with federal programs bribery.)
And so Janavs admitted to conspiring with fraudster Rick Singer (who was busted very early on and flipped, helping the FBI get evidence on everyone else). Per her guilty plea, she:
- paid $50k to “fix” her daughter’s ACT test — twice
- agreed to pay $200k to USC athletics administrator Donna Heinel (the same one who allegedly conspired with Lori) to get her daughter into the school as a fake volleyball recruit
She was also accused of paying $400k to Georgetown to get her son in as a Division I tennis recruit. He actually DOES play tennis, though from reports — including a New Yorker interview with a star teammate who didn’t get in — he was nowhere near good enough to gain admission. It seems to have been in the face of new charges related to her son that Janavs folded and pleaded guilty.
On Tuesday the mother of three was sentenced in the case; prosecutors sought a reasonable 21 months — a guilty verdict for either of the crimes she was charged with could have gotten her 20 YEARS — but her legal team argued (again similarly to Lori’s defense) that she was a gullible mom who was duped by bad actors.
In the end Janavs got just 5 MONTHS, which, when all things considered, is extremely light. Heck, Lori has been in a prison of stress and public shame for longer than that.
We can only imagine how this must hurt seeing how lenient judges are being on those who were in her exact same position but chose to accept responsibility instead.
https://giphy.com/gifs/cinema-gwyneth-paltrow-X1SuOO2Ba6N3O
Do YOU think Lori should bite the bullet and plead guilty now? Or take her chances with a jury??
[Image via Adriana M. Barraza/WENN/Hot Pockets/CBS Boston/YouTube.]
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