Lori Loughlin reported to a California prison Friday to begin serving her two-month sentence for her conviction in the college admissions scandal, authorities said.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston said Loughlin was being processed at the federal lockup in Dublin, California.
A spokesperson for the Federal Correctional Institution Dublin confirmed to USA TODAY that Loughlin is in custody at the minimum security prison for women east of San Francisco. Under the terms of her sentencing in August, she was expected to report on or by Nov. 19.
“The parties recently agreed that the defendant can report to prison on October 30, 2020, instead of on November 19, 2020. The defendant has further agreed that, during her two month sentence, she will not seek an early release from prison on COVID-related grounds,” the statement from the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Under the Bureau of Prisons’ coronavirus protocols, Loughlin will be screened and tested for COVID-19 and will be placed in quarantine for 14 days.
Prosecutors said Loughlin’s husband, Massimo Giannulli, didn’t report to prison with Loughlin on Friday. The Bureau of Prisons website showed he is not in custody at a men’s prison in California.
USA TODAY reached out to Loughlin’s lawyer, B.J. Trach, for comment.
In August, Loughlin was sentenced to two months and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, got five months for paying half a million dollars in bribes to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California as rowing recruits.
Loughlin, 56, was sentenced at an online hearing in federal court in Boston conducted via Zoom by U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton. Giannulli, 57, was sentenced by Gorton in a separate hearing on the same day.
Both sought to be serve their sentences in minimum security prisons in California but the final decision is up to the Bureau of Prisons. Giannulli’s lawyer said at his sentencing he sought to serve his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution Lompoc in Santa Barbara County.
In addition to the prison term, Loughlin will pay a fine of $150,000, followed by two years of supervised release and 100 hours of community service. Giannulli will pay a fine of $250,000 followed by two years of supervised release and 250 hours of community service.
Both sentences were agreed to under the terms of the couple’s plea bargains negotiated with federal prosecutors earlier this year.
“I accept the … plea agreement negotiated by the government and Ms. Loughlin and I conclude that the agreed sentence … is sufficient but not greater than needed for punishment,” Gorton said. “There is no mystery about the outcome.”
Loughlin apologized, choking up a bit as she spoke via video link.
The celebrity couple each pleaded guilty in May to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, in separate plea agreements with federal prosecutors.
The former star of the television series “Full House,” and her husband, whose fashion line was popular at Target, were among the most famous of dozens of wealthy and influential parents charged by federal prosecutors last year with lying and cheating to get their children into elite universities.
Loughlin and Giannulli were accused of paying $500,000 in bribes to the mastermind of a nationwide admissions scheme, Rick Singer, to get their two daughters, Olivia Jade Giannulli and Isabella Giannulli, accepted into the University of Southern California as fake crew recruits.
The couple asserted their innocence from the time they were arrested in March 2019. For more than a year, their attorneys mounted a vigorous defense seeking dismissal of the case, arguing Loughlin and Giannulli believed they were making “legitimate donations” to USC, not bribing college officials.
They kept to that position until May, when they agreed to plead guilty after prosecutors dropped bribery and money laundering charges, which could have brought them lengthier prison terms.
Loughlin reporting to prison comes days after Felicity Huffman completed her sentence in the college admissions case.
She has now completed supervised release, the final portion of her sentence, which also included jail time and community service, a source close to the family who was not authorized to speak publicly confirmed to USA TODAY.
Huffman agreed to a plea bargain a few months after her arrest and was sentenced to 14 days in prison, a $30,000 fine, supervised release for one year and 250 hours of community service for paying $15,000 to have someone correct answers on the SAT exam of one of her two daughters.
At the time of plea bargain, she issued a statement of contrition in which she said she felt “deep regret and shame” for the pain she caused by her actions. She began serving her sentence in federal prison in California in September 2019 and was released after 11 days.
Lori Loughlin, husband Mossimo Giannulli sentenced to prison in college admissions scandal
Contributing: Maria Puente and Hannah Yasharoff, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
