New details continue to emerge about the college admissions scandal involving Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin.
On Tuesday, March 12, 2019 E! News obtained court documents which show that both Huffman and Loughlin have been charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. The Desperate Housewives alum and the Fuller House star are among over 40 individuals who have been charged in connection with the scandal. According to the FBI affidavit, the scheme involved getting students admitted into elite colleges.
“Beginning in or about 2011, and continuing through the present, the defendants—principally individuals whose high-school aged children were applying to college—conspired with others to use bribery and other forms of fraud to facilitate their children’s admission to colleges and universities in the District of Massachusetts and elsewhere, including Yale University, Stanford University, the University of Texas, the University of Southern California, and the University of California–Los Angeles, among others,” the affidavit states.
The same day that the news broke, E! News confirmed that 13 defendants were taken into custody in the Los Angeles area, including defendant Huffman.
The FBI affidavit states that Huffman and her “spouse,” William H. Macy, made a purported charitable contribution of $15,000 to participate in the scheme on behalf of her eldest daughter. She “later made arrangements to pursue the scheme a second time, for her younger daughter, before deciding not to do so,” the document reads.
Huffman and Macy are parents to Sofia Grace Macy, 19, and Georgia Grace Macy, 17.
Macy, who has not been charged, was seated it the gallery in court on Tuesday afternoon as Huffman faced a judge.
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Per the court orders, the Oscar nominee will surrender her passport and is required to seek pre-trial approval for any travel.
Huffman was also granted a signature bond of $250,000 and has been ordered to appear in federal court in Boston on March 29, 2019. The signature bond requires the 56-year-old actress to sign a promise to return to court, but does not require a deposit of any cash or property with the court.
While there are many theories as to why Macy has not been charged in this FBI investigation—code name Operation Varsity Blues—there’s been no official statement from authorities.
New York Law School professor and former prosecutor Rebecca Roiphe shared one theory with Vulture, stating, “One of the possibilities is that the husband is far less culpable. Maybe it’s possible that the government has far more evidence than it’s laid out here, and in this evidence, that Huffman played a far more significant role than her husband.”
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As for Loughlin, she surrendered to the FBI on March 13, 2019 and was taken into custody. She was later released on $1 million bond.
Loughlin will be allowed to retain her passport for travel on a current project in British Columbia, her next court appearance was in Boston Federal court.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts told E! News that Loughlin had not yet been arrested on March 12, 2019 as she was out of the country. She was contact by federal authorities to come back and turn herself in. Loughlin’s husband Mossimo Giannulli was arrested on March 12, 2019 without incident.
It’s noted in the FBI affidavit, “The Guannullis agreed to a pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team—despite the fact that they did not participate in crew—thereby facilitating their admission to USC.”
Loughlin and Giannulli have two daughters, Isabella Rose, 21, and YouTube star Olivia Jade, 20.
USC has now announced that it has placed holds on the accounts of students who may be associated with the alleged admissions scheme; this prevents the students from registering for classes or acquiring transcripts while their cases are under review.
“These students have been notified that their status is under review,” USC said in a statement. “Following the review, we will take the proper action related to their status, up to revoking admission or expulsion.”
Meanwhile, William “Rick” Singer, 58, was charged racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud US and obstruction of justice for his alleged involvement in the scheme. E! News has confirmed that Singer pled guilty to all counts.
According to a press release, Singer owned and operated the Edge College & Career Network LLC (“The Key”) – a for-profit college counseling and preparation business – and served as the CEO of the Key Worldwide Foundation (KWF) – a non-profit corporation that he established as a purported charity.
The release stated that between approximately 2011 and Feb. 2019, Singer allegedly “conspired with dozens of parents, athletic coaches, a university athletics administrator, and others, to use bribery and other forms of fraud to secure the admission of students to colleges and universities including Yale University, Georgetown University, Stanford University, the University of Southern California, and Wake Forest University, among others.”
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On Tuesday, April 9, 2019 it was announced that 16 parents involved in the cheating scandal, including Loughlin and husband Giannulli, face additional legal trouble.
“Sixteen parents involved in the college admissions scandal were charged today in Boston in a second superseding indictment with conspiring to commit fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to use bribery to cheat on college entrance exams and to facilitate their children’s admission to selective colleges and universities as purported athletic recruits,” a Department of Justice press release stated.
The press release also explained, “The second superseding indictment also charges the defendants with conspiring to launder the bribes and other payments in furtherance of the fraud by funneling them through Singer’s purported charity and his for-profit corporation, as well as by transferring money into the United States, from outside the United States, for the purpose of promoting the fraud scheme.”
Additionally, the press release provides insight into the possible sentencing that the parents are facing, stating, “The charge of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the money laundering. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.”
On April 15, 2019 Loughlin and her longtime husband pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Both waived their right to appear in court for arraignment
More recently, the pair’s attorney pleaded not guilty on their behalf at the arraignment on April 29, 2019. A source familiar with the case told E! News, “Their attorney represented them during today’s arraignment. The court accepted the not guilty pleas.”
On Sept. 13, 2019 Huffman appeared in a Massachusetts court, where she was sentenced to 14 days in prison, supervised release for one year, 250 hours of community service and a $30,000 fine. A month later, on Oct. 14, 2019 Huffman officially began her prison sentence.
“Felicity Huffman reported today for sentencing to the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, CA. Ms. Huffman is prepared to serve the term of imprisonment Judge Talwani ordered as one part of the punishment she imposed for Ms. Huffman’s actions,” Huffman’s rep said in a statement to E! News. “She will begin serving the remainder of the sentence Judge Talwani imposed—one year of supervised release, with conditions including 250 hours of community service—when she is released.”
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On Monday, Oct. 21, 2019 it was confirmed that Loughlin’s daughters are no longer enrolled at USC.
According to a statement from the USC Registrar, “Olivia Jade Giannulli and Isabella Rose Giannulli are not currently enrolled. We are unable to provide additional information because of student privacy laws.”
A day after this confirmation, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019 it was revealed that Loughlin and husband Giannulli are among the parents facing additional charges in the college admissions scandal. A grand jury in the District of Massachusetts announced additional charges against 11 of the 15 parents involved the scandal. According to a press release from the Department of Justice, these new charges in the third superseding indictment allege that the 11 defendants “conspired to commit federal program bribery by bribing employees of the University of Southern California (USC) to facilitate their children’s admission.”
The release continues, “In exchange for the bribes, employees of the university allegedly designated the defendants’ children as athletic recruits – with little or no regard for their athletic abilities – or as members of other favored admissions categories.”
Of the additional charges in the case, U.S. attorney Andrew E. Lelling said Tuesday, “Today’s charges are the result of ongoing investigation in the nationwide college admissions case. Our goal from the beginning has been to hold the defendants fully accountable for corrupting the college admissions process through cheating, bribery and fraud. The superseding indictments will further that effort.”
According to court documents obtained by E! News and filed on Nov. 1, 2019 Loughlin pleaded not guilty to each of the counts against her in the third superseding indictment and waived her right to appear in court for arraignment.
The government filed a 526-page motion in Massachusetts federal court on Jan. 14, 2020 that featured redacted emails, documents and phone call transcripts to show Loughlin and Giannulli’s alleged involvement with Singer and the scam.
According to CNN, the motion served as the government’s response to an argument made by Loughlin, Giannulli and others who have pleaded not guilty. Per the news outlet, the defendants accuse the government of withholding evidence—that USC officials allegedly knew of the scam—and claim the couple participated in a legitimate donation practice.
However, the government claims the documents show Loughlin and Giannulli rejected a “legitimate approach.”
An interim status hearing was scheduled for those who have not pled guilty on Jan. 17.
(This story was originally published on Wednesday, March 13, 2019 at 12:25 p.m. PST)
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