In recent days, legal experts have gone on record to say they believe it is “highly likely” that Full House actress Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli are going to spend time behind bars for the college admissions scandal. Now a legal source seemingly familiar with the defendants’ thinking is saying that Loughlin et al. are “ready for this to be over.”
That wasn’t all, though: Strikingly that source also told PEOPLE that, “At this point, it would be better to spend a few months in jail — because [Loughlin’s] been spending the last several months in her own prison.”
Loughlin and Giannulli have chosen to take their chances in court rather than cutting a plea deal with the government, apparently believing that they will be “exonerated.” Mixed in with that optimism were reports that Loughlin and Giannulli have had second thoughts about turning down a deal. It’s not clear if the latest news means that Loughlin and Giannulli are more actively reconsidering their decision to reject that deal, but the PEOPLE source did offer an explanation as to why Loughlin didn’t enter a guilty plea.
“She honestly didn’t think what she was doing was any different than donating money for a library or athletic field,” that source said. “That’s the crux of why she pleaded not guilty.”
As you surely know by now, Loughlin and Giannulli face federal fraud and money laundering charges in the wake of Operation Varsity Blues; they are accused of creating fake rowing profiles to get their daughters Isabella Giannulli and Olivia Jade Giannulli into USC, “agree[ing] to pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the [University of Southern California (USC)] crew team–despite the fact that they did not participate in crew.”
“[Loughlin’s] embarrassed and hurt, and she knows that her reputation has been ruined for life. But she also believes the allegations against her aren’t true,” the unnamed source would add.
[Image via JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP/Getty Images]
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