Lori Loughlin pleads not guilty in college admissions scam
Actress Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli are charged with paying $500,000 in bribes to get their daughters admitted to the University of Southern California as crew recruits.
Lori Loughlin is scared that going to trial for charges related to the college admissions scandal will damage her daughters, Isabella and YouTube star Olivia Jade, a new report claims.
“Lori is very concerned about what a trial will do to her daughters. It will undermine every accomplishment they have in the future and it will be part of their story forever," an insider told People in a piece released on Wednesday.
Loughlin, 54, and husband Mossimo Giannulli pleaded not guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges on Monday.
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The couple are accused of bribing Olivia Jade and Isabella's ways into the University of Southern California (USC) for a cool $500,000 each with alleged scam mastermind William "Rick" Singer. The girls were reportedly recruited for the crew team despite not being coxswains in high school. Loughlin and Giannulli, 55, were arrested in March and each released on $1 million bonds.
The couple rejected a plea bargain and were slapped with additional charges of money laundering. If convicted of all counts against them, they face up to 40 years behind bars, a prospect that's terrifying for the former "Full House" star and the fashion designer. Isabella and Olivia's statuses at USC are reportedly on hold.
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“It’s not in their best interest for this to go to trial, and Lori knows it," the source admitted. "Because if it goes to trial, the girls will have to take the stand, and be cross examined by a prosecution that wants nothing more than to put a notch on their belt,” says the legal source.
“Lori is very afraid that her daughters will have to testify. That will traumatize them even more,” the source added.
Loughlin, who previously was reported to have believed she'd just get a slap on the wrist for her alleged offenses, is said to be horrified at the idea of jailtime.
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“She will continue to make a good faith effort to put this case behind her," the source said, "and she hopes the prosecutors will do the same.”
Aside from her potential prison time and her public image taking a beating, Loughlin is reportedly nervous that her relationships with her daughters won't recover after the scandal.
"Yes, she can think about the public perception of her, but that’s nothing compared to what her daughters think of her,” the insider said.
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As for how her daughters feel about her now, it's unclear: She was spotted laughing it up with Isabella after the scandal broke, but sources have claimed Olivia Jade feels that Loughlin and Giannulli have "ruined her life" by bribing her way into college, which she allegedly never wanted to attend in the first place.
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