Why ‘When Calls the Heart’ Star Lori Loughlin Has Refused to Plead Guilty in the College Admissions Scam
Felicity Huffman and 13 other defendants in the high-profile college admissions scandal pleaded guilty on Monday. The actress admitted she had given $15,000 to a fake charity in order to have another person complete the SAT for her daughter. Huffman said she had “deep regret and shame” over her actions and that she was sorry for the hurt she had caused.
But one prominent defendant in the wide-ranging case, which has ensnared dozens of parents across the U.S., didn’t enter a guilty plea on Monday: actress Lori Loughlin.
Loughlin doesn’t think she did anything wrong
The When Calls the Heart and Fuller House star and her husband designer Mossimo Gianulli
“It’s just taking some time for it to sink in that what she was allegedly doing could be considered illegal,” the source told the magazine. “To her, it wasn’t egregious behavior. Was it entitled and perhaps selfish? Perhaps. But she didn’t see it as being a legal violation.”
“From the beginning, she didn’t want to take a deal, because she felt that she hadn’t done anything that any mom wouldn’t have done, if they had the means to do so,” the source went on to say. “So this wasn’t her being obstinate; this was her truly not understanding the seriousness of the allegations.”
Loughlin also was worried about what a guilty plea would mean for her daughters, People reported.
Loughlin and her husband were initially charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud. On Tuesday, prosecutors added a money laundering conspiracy charge to the mix.
Will Loughlin go to prison?
Prison time is looking increasingly likely for the parents involved in the case. Prosecutors are urging that the parents who have already pleaded guilty spend time behind bars, CNN reported.
Loughlin is facing up to 40 years if found guilty of all the charges against her. Refusing to cooperate could increase the chances the Hallmark Channel star will do
“Felicity Huffman pleading guilty and giving such a perfect statement of remorse and contrition is a very bad sign for Lori Loughlin … If you go forward and fight this case you really could wind up with a sentence that is a lot of time in prison,” CBS News legal analyst Rikki Klieman told the network. “By having all these guilty pleas at one time … it’s to send a message out there to the remaining defendants that you better get in here and you better get in here quick.”
Initially, Loughlin was “in complete denial” about the fact that she might go to prison, a source told E! News. The actress “
Now the reality of the situation is finally sinking in, the source went on to say. “Lori is finally realizing just how serious this is,” they said. “She is seeing the light that she will do jail time and is freaking out.”
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