Lori Loughlin, Mossimo Giannulli plead guilty to college admissions charges
The Hollywood couple pleaded guilty on Thursday
"Full House" star Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli pleaded guilty Friday in connection with the college admissions scandal that has implicated more than 50 wealthy and high-powered parents who paid to help get their children into often elite schools, officials said.
"Guilty," Loughlin told the judge as she sat next to her attorney on Friday, according to the New York Post.
The Department of Justice announced Thursday the couple had agreed to plead guilty to a number of the charges filed against them in connection to the sweeping scheme, dubbed “Varsity Blues.”
Loughlin pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, while Giannulli copped to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and honest services wire and mail fraud, the District of Massachusetts announced.
Designer Mossimo Giannulli and actress Lori Loughlin on April 18, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Donato Sardella/Getty Images for LACMA)
PROSECUTORS SLAM LORI LOUGHLIN, MOSSIMO GIANNULLI, RELEASE DAUGHTER'S FAKE CREW RESUME
The Hollywood couple was accused of paying approximately $500,000 to create nonexistent positions for their daughters on the University of Southern California’s crew team, even though neither had ever taken part in the sport. They allegedly sent photos of their daughters on ergometers, or rowing machines, on different dates months apart, court papers show.
LOUGHLIN, GIANNULLI DAUGHTERS' 'VARSITY BLUES' ROWING PHOTOS RELEASED
Over the course of the legal battle, prosecutors released the photographs showing each of the daughters sitting on the ergometers on different dates months apart, in accordance with suggestions from scheme mastermind William “Rick” Singer.
Lori Loughlin and her two daughters in this undated photo. (Associated Press)
WHO IS LORI LOUGHLIN'S HUSBAND, MOSSIMO GIANNULLI?
The government also released one of the daughters' fake crew profiles, which outlines allegedly bogus accomplishments that she had purportedly achieved prior to her college acceptance.
They were the 23rd and 24th parents to plead guilty, officials said.
PROSECUTORS IN LORI LOUGHLIN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS CASE REDACTED EXCULPATORY INFORMATION: JUDGE
The couple's sentencing ends a long-held fight against the government in an attempt to have their cases dismissed based on allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.