Aunt Becky is headed to court. Fuller House star Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, have an official trial date set for Oct. 5 this year, per court documents obtained by E! News. The couple are facing multiple charges, which include conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud as part of the college admissions scandal that made headlines back throughout 2019.
In addition to the start date, the documents also indicated that jury selection will begin on Sept. 28.
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Per the FBI’s affidavit, Loughlin and Giannulli both “agreed to 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.”
The couple have pleaded not guilty to all the charges. However, if they’re found guilty, they could be facing 50 years in prison (each) along with millions of dollars of potential fines. They are also among roughly 50 people facing federal charges over the matter, including former Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman.
Huffman was sentenced to 11 days and was released early back in October.
Back on Feb. 12, the student profile of Loughlin’s younger daughter, Olivia, was surfaced by CNN, which claimed that “she is highly talented and has been successful in both men’s and women’s boats.” It also stated that she’d previously won two gold medals in the San Diego Crew Classic, one in 2014 and one in 2016, as well as the fact that she participated in Boston’s Head of the Charles regatta in 2016 and 2017. It listed her some specific skills, including “awareness, organization, direction and steering.”
Despite the fact that none of this was true, the daughter of the Fuller House star was admitted to the University of Southern California. In January, a trio of officials from the USC athletic department were fired over their connections to the scandal.
Prosecutors are arguing that these false profiles were created by Rick Singer, who’s said to have organized dozens of college briberies that have have been as the scandal is being investigated. Several of those arrested have pleaded guilty, but Loughlin and Giannulli are intent on fighting the charges.
Last year, it was announced that Loughlin’s Fuller House character, Aunt Becky, would be written out of the Netflix series, which the streamer said was done as a way to shield the show’s child stars from the legal drama.
