In addition to her multiple charges stemming from the college admissions scandal, Lori Loughlin has just been accused of withholding evidence in the case despite being requested to turn it in. CNN reports that Loughlin, her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, and several other parents are being accused of not submitting their discovery materials, federal prosecutors said in a court filing on Friday.
The filing claims that with the exception of Bill McGlashan and Robert Zangrillo, all the other parents have not provided any discovery to the government.
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“The government disagrees with the defendants’ assertion that it is premature to provide their own discovery,” the filing states. “The government contends that it has complied with its discovery obligations and continues to comply with them.”
Discovery material is any material, including documents, evidence and other information, that both sides of a case can share with each other ahead of a trial. The filing states that defendants in the college admissions case have had around eight months to review the government’s discovery and confer with their clients.
Defense attorneys have argued that the government has not completed its obligations to produce discovery. In addition, attorneys for Loughlin and Giannulli have accused the government of hiding evidence that would benefit their defense in the scandal. In a motion filed in December, defense attorneys say the pair did not know their money was being used to bribe a USC official, as federal prosecutors claimed.
“The Government appears to be concealing exculpatory evidence that helps show that both Defendants believed all of the payments they made would go to USC itself — for legitimate, university-approved purposes — or to other legitimate charitable causes,” the motion read, via CNN.
Loughlin and her husband were indicted early last year and were accused of paying $500,000 to have their two daughters, Isabella and Olivia, designated as crew recruits to the University of Southern California despite the fact that neither of them had ever participated in the sport.
The couple was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and in October, they were also charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery. They did not accept a plea deal and pleaded not guilty to their initial charges as well as the new charges and are now facing up to 45 years in prison.
Louhglin is currently set for a status conference on Friday in Boston federal court.
Photo Credit: Getty / Donato Sardella
