The former Full House student will return home to California, where she will be reunited with her daughters Olivia Jade, 20, and Bella, 20. Her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, is serving a five-month prison term at a facility in Lompoc. , California. (Jon Kopaloff / FilmMagic)
Lori Loughlin was released from prison on Monday after serving two months for her role in the national college admission scandal that exposed rich and famous people involved in illegal schemes to cheat on standardized tests and buy their children at some of the best schools in the country. .
A spokesman for the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Dublin, California, confirmed Loughlin’s release to Fox News.
The former “Full House” student originally received a release date on Sunday, December 27, sparking speculation that she would be released a few days earlier, just in time for Christmas, according to Program Statement 5140.36 , which stipulates that prisoners who are scheduled to be released on a weekend or legal holiday will instead be released on the last day of the previous week. However, after a month of his stay in prison, the date of his release was postponed to Monday.
Loughlin’s release comes as her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, continues to serve his five-month prison term at a federal facility in Lompoc, California. Both defendants were required to report to their respective prisons no later than 19 November. Loughlin started his sentence earlier, checking into FCI Dublin on October 30th.
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Actress Lori Loughlin was released from prison after serving two months at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, for her role in the college admission scandal.
(Reuters)
FCI Dublin is a low security federal prison for about 1,200 inmates. It is the same installation where “Desperate Housewives” actress Felicity Huffman served 11 days of a two-week sentence planned for similar crimes.
The actress was sentenced to two months behind bars in August after she and her stylist husband pleaded guilty to charges stemming from payments of $ 500,000 to scam mentor William “Rick” Singer to get his daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella Giannulli, were recruited to the University of Southern California’s crew team. The two had never participated in the sport.
Loughlin’s release means that she is one step closer to leaving the national scandal behind, although it is important to note that her sentence is not officially complete now that she has been released. In his plea bargain, Loughlin agreed to serve two months in prison and pay a $ 150,000 fine, along with two years of supervised release and 100 hours of community service. Giannulli, however, was ordered to pay a $ 250,000 fine with two years of supervised release and 250 hours of community service, in addition to a five-month prison term.
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Although it is not known whether Loughlin plans to speak publicly about her time in prison, reports during her stay revealed that she suffered a “tearful” first night behind bars before establishing a kind of routine while there. Last month, a source told Us Weekly that the Hallmark star regularly attended religious services at the institution and had even formed “several” friendships with other inmates.
Lori Loughlin served two months in prison for getting her daughter, Olivia Jade, to be admitted to the USC.
(Chris Pizzello / Invision / AP, Archive)
For the most part, however, Loughlin managed to stay as long as he could, as he feared he would contract the new coronavirus, according to reports. Meanwhile, Giannulli is in preventive custody at a federal prison in Lompoc due to the ongoing global health crisis. A legal source told People that it is a reaction to the Santa Barbara County Department of Public Health reporting 1,038 coronavirus cases and four coronavirus-related deaths in prison on December 19.
During Loughlin’s arrest, his eldest daughter, Olivia Jade, 21, made headlines for her first interview about the national scandal. Speaking with Jada Pinkett Smith on “Red Table Talk”, Olivia talked about her parents serving time, not being angry with them and the reaction she faced online because of her privilege.
INSIDE LORI LOUGHLIN’S PRISON AND WHY SHE POTENTIALLY DID NOT SPEAK TO THE DAUGHTER OLIVIA JADE: SPECIALIST
In this February 28, 2019 archive photo, actress Lori Loughlin, in the center, poses with daughters Olivia Jade Giannulli, on the left, and Isabella Rose Giannulli at the “An Unforgettable Evening” 2019 in Beverly Hills, California. Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli were charged along with nearly 50 others on Tuesday in a scheme in which wealthy parents bribe college coaches and other insiders to place their children in some of the country’s elite schools, federal prosecutors said.
(Chris Pizzello / Invision / AP)
“It has been difficult, I think, for anyone,” admitted the former student at the University of Southern California. “No matter what the situation is, you don’t want to see your parents go to prison. But I think we need to move on.”
Olivia described feeling “embarrassed” and “embarrassed” when the bribery scandal broke out in March 2019. She also said she has since learned from her family’s “mistake”.
She described, “I think what hasn’t been very public is that there is no way to justify or excuse what happened because what happened was wrong. And I think every person in my family can be like, ‘That was confusing. a big mistake. “But I think what is so important to me is learning from the mistake, not being ashamed and punished now and never having a second chance because I’m 21. I feel like I deserve a second chance to redeem myself, to show that I am. I grew up. “
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Loughlin expressed similar regrets during his sentencing hearing on August 22. Appearing at the court’s conference via Zoom, the actress said she was “deeply sorry” for her actions. Addressing the judge, she suppressed her tears while apologizing.
“I made a terrible decision. I followed up with a plan to give my daughters an unfair advantage in the college admission process, and in doing so, I ignored my intuition and allowed myself to be influenced by my moral compass,” she said. “I have great faith in God and I believe in redemption and I will do everything in my power to redeem myself and use that experience as a catalyst to do good.”
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The prison sentences ended more than a year of legal battles against Loughlin and Giannulli. The couple initially pleaded not guilty to the expanded bribery charges against them last October, along with 11 other parents involved in the scandal. In May, the pair shocked many when they changed course and agreed to plead guilty, as Huffman did in 2019.
In addition to the sentence, Loughlin was fired from roles in Netflix’s “Fuller House” and in Hallmark’s “When Calls the Heart” after her role in the scandal surfaced in 2019.
Tyler McCarthy of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.