Yet another unnamed source has come out of the woodwork to say that Full House actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli have a true and sincere belief that they will ultimately be “exonerated” of fraud and money laundering charges.
The source told Us Weekly that the couple not only believes “they’ll be exonerated,” they are also “actively engaged in their defense.” It’s not exactly clear what was meant by the latter. But it is worth mentioning that the source said the high-profile defendants “won’t even talk about taking any type of [plea deal],” which is consistent with other reporting on the subject.
The legal saga of Loughlin and Giannulli in “Operation Varsity Blues” has been ongoing since charges were first leveled in April. Loughlin and Giannulli 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 and Giannulli have pleaded not guilty, electing instead to roll the dice in court.
Numerous reports have painted a portrait of a Loughlin as anything from “ready to fight” to a defendant having second thoughts about turning down a plea deal. Ultimately, Loughlin and her husband have opted to take their chances in court. Loughlin was reportedly “adamant” that she wouldn’t “do any jail time,” but prosecutors ended up tacking on money laundering charges for Loughlin and Giannulli, turning up the heat even more. Mixed in with the bad news has also been some good news. It’s possible that a jury and/or a judge will view things differently from federal prosecutors.
The hesitance on the part of Loughlin and Giannulli to lock themselves into a plea agreement was signaled as far back as April:
Lori, of course, is hoping her ragtag team of lawyers pull off a miracle and get the case dismissed. “Lori and Mossimo are depending on their lawyers to get them out of this mess,” a source close to the actress told us EXCLUSIVELY. “Lori feels confident that her lawyers will find some loophole or some mistake made by the authorities.”
As mentioned, however, there have also been reports of second thoughts.
“She is watching the reduced sentences of those who have taken plea deals, and wondering each day if she’s made the wrong decision,”another unnamed source previously said of Loughlin’s thinking. That person also claimed that Loughlin might actually be resigned to the reality of time behind bars, suggesting that the reason Loughlin has continued to enjoy her life is that she might not have the same freedom she’s grown accustomed to for long.
“She is trying to live a normal everyday life and to take this time to stay strong but it isn’t easy. Lori doesn’t have the support she once had. She is feeling a ‘fall from grace’ having had a persona as a wholesome mom and now being seen as a pariah,” the source said. “People keep giving Lori a hard time for being out and about and looking carefree, but she realizes that she might end up in prison and this might just be her last months of freedom for some time.”
[Image via Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]
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