Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Loughlin, Giannulli: College Bribery Charges Must Be Tossed
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
March 26, 2020

Share

BOSTON — “Full House” Actress Lori Loughlin, her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, and other prominent parents urged a judge Wednesday to dismiss charges against them in the college admissions bribery case, accusing prosecutors of “extraordinary” misconduct.
Defense attorneys for the the famous couple and other parents still fighting the charges say the case cannot stand because investigators bullied their informant into lying and then concealed evidence that would bolster the parents’ claims of innocence.
“The extraordinary government misconduct presented in this case threatens grave harm to defendants and the integrity of this proceeding. That misconduct cannot be ignored,” the lawyers wrote.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Boston declined Wednesday to comment.
Loughlin and Giannulli are scheduled to go on trial in October on charges that they paid $500,000 to get their daughters into the University of Southern California as crew recruits even though neither girl was a rower. Prosecutors say they snapped photos of the girls sitting on rowing machines to help make fake athletic profiles that portrayed them as star athletes.
Six other wealthy parents accused of participating in the scheme will stand trial alongside them. Another six parents are scheduled to face trial in January.

Photo of Lori Laughlin with her daughters
FILE – In this Feb. 28, 2019 file photo, actress Lori Loughlin, center, poses with daughters Olivia Jade Giannulli, left, and Isabella Rose Giannulli at the 2019 “An Unforgettable Evening” in Beverly Hills, Calif. Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli were charged along with nearly 50 other people Tuesday in a scheme in which wealthy parents bribed college coaches and other insiders to get their children into some of the most elite schools in the country, federal prosecutors said. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

Notes Show That Agents Bullied Singer Into Fabricating Evidence

The defense says prosecutors withheld evidence that would support the parents’ argument that they believed the payments were legitimate donations that would benefit the schools, rather than bribes for coaches or officials. The evidence — notes from the phone of the scheme’s admitted mastermind, admissions consultant Rick Singer — was not given to the defense until last month.
Singer wrote in the notes that FBI agents yelled at him and told him to lie to get parents to say things in recorded phone calls that could be used against them. Singer wrote that FBI agents told him to say that he told parents the payments were bribes.
“They continue to ask me to tell a fib and not restate what I told my clients as to where there money was going — to the program not the coach and that it was a donation and they want it to be a payment,” Singer wrote, according to the filing.
The defense says the notes show that agents bullied Singer into fabricating evidence and try to trick parents into falsely agreeing that the payments were bribes.
“For government agents to coerce an informant into lying on recorded calls to generate false inculpatory evidence against investigative targets—and to then knowingly prosecute those targets using that false evidence—is governmental malfeasance of the worst kind,” the lawyers wrote.
Instead of immediately handing over the notes when they first saw them in Oct. 2018, prosecutors “buried” the evidence and repeatedly told the defense it had provided everything it was supposed to, the parents’ lawyers wrote.

Nearly Two Dozen Other Parents Have Pleaded Guilty in the Case

The defense also accused investigators of allowing Singer to delete thousands of text messages from his cellphone and then mounting an “aggressive (and highly successful) pressure campaign” to get parents to plead guilty.
“While withholding the notes and many other examples of material exculpatory information, the government attempted to coerce defendants into pleading guilty by threatening that if they did not, they would face additional charges,” the parents’ lawyers wrote.
Singer’s notes weren’t given to the defense until February because the government believed they were privileged and didn’t review them further after discovering them, prosecutors have said. Prosecutors say it doesn’t matter whether Singer called the payments bribes or donations, because it was still an illegal quid pro quo.
The defense said if the judge doesn’t dismiss the case, he should at least prevent prosecutors from using the “tainted recordings” at trial and order a hearing to “uncover the full truth about the recordings and the government’s efforts to fabricate and conceal evidence.”
Nearly two dozen other parents have pleaded guilty in the case, including “Desperate Housewives” star Felicity Huffman, who was sentenced to two weeks in prison for paying $15,000 to have a proctor correct her daughter’s SAT answers.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

California Proposes Allowing Testing of Self-Driving Heavy-Duty Trucks

DON'T MISS

Higher Taxes on Millionaires? Trump Says He’s Open, but Many in His Party Are Not

DON'T MISS

Ex-US Rep. George Santos Sentenced to Over 7 Years in Prison for Fraud and Identity Theft

DON'T MISS

Selma Mayor Charged With Electioneering Violation on Election Day

DON'T MISS

Fresno Air Improves. Where Does It Rank in the US?

DON'T MISS

As Harris Ponders Run for CA Governor, Is She Prepared for the Daunting Job?

DON'T MISS

Stocks Rise With Tech-Related Shares, Notch Weekly Gains; Dollar Up

DON'T MISS

Conflicting US-China Talks Statements Add to Global Trade Confusion

DON'T MISS

Driving Near the Fresno Airport Next Week? Plan for Road Closures

DON'T MISS

Misty Her: Push for Fresno Unified Turnaround Starts Now With ‘Boots on the Ground’

UP NEXT

Top Producer at ’60 Minutes’ Quits Amid Trump Lawsuit Pressure

UP NEXT

Is a ‘Friend-Apist’ What We Really Want From Therapy?

UP NEXT

Universal Studios Fan Fest 2025 to Feature Immersive D&D Attraction and More

UP NEXT

Americans Haven’t Found a Satisfying Alternative to Religion

UP NEXT

Thousands of Pilgrims Trek Through New Mexico Desert to Historic Adobe Church for Good Friday

UP NEXT

Katy Perry Gears Up for Sci-Fi Inspired World Tour

UP NEXT

Easter Desserts Anyone Can Make

UP NEXT

How Trump Might Unwittingly Cut Emissions From Online Shopping

UP NEXT

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Seeks Two-Month Delay of May 5 Trial

UP NEXT

Actor Michelle Trachtenberg Died of Complications From Diabetes, Says NYC Medical Examiner

Selma Mayor Charged With Electioneering Violation on Election Day

1 hour ago

Fresno Air Improves. Where Does It Rank in the US?

1 hour ago

As Harris Ponders Run for CA Governor, Is She Prepared for the Daunting Job?

2 hours ago

Stocks Rise With Tech-Related Shares, Notch Weekly Gains; Dollar Up

2 hours ago

Conflicting US-China Talks Statements Add to Global Trade Confusion

3 hours ago

Driving Near the Fresno Airport Next Week? Plan for Road Closures

3 hours ago

Misty Her: Push for Fresno Unified Turnaround Starts Now With ‘Boots on the Ground’

3 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest 17 in Domestic Violence Crackdown

3 hours ago

What’s Next for Fresno Smoke Shop Ordinance: Lawsuit, Veto, Override?

4 hours ago

Visalia Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for 2019 Fatal Stabbing

5 hours ago

California Proposes Allowing Testing of Self-Driving Heavy-Duty Trucks

LOS ANGELES — California regulators have released a new proposal to allow the testing of self-driving heavy duty trucks on public roads. The...

37 minutes ago

37 minutes ago

California Proposes Allowing Testing of Self-Driving Heavy-Duty Trucks

43 minutes ago

Higher Taxes on Millionaires? Trump Says He’s Open, but Many in His Party Are Not

46 minutes ago

Ex-US Rep. George Santos Sentenced to Over 7 Years in Prison for Fraud and Identity Theft

Selma Mayor Scott Robertson (left) has been charged with misdemeanor electioneering for allegedly campaigning near voters at a polling place during the November 2024 election. (Facebook)
1 hour ago

Selma Mayor Charged With Electioneering Violation on Election Day

1 hour ago

Fresno Air Improves. Where Does It Rank in the US?

2 hours ago

As Harris Ponders Run for CA Governor, Is She Prepared for the Daunting Job?

2 hours ago

Stocks Rise With Tech-Related Shares, Notch Weekly Gains; Dollar Up

A drone view shows containers at the terminals at the port in Kwai Chung in Hong Kong, China, April 3, 2025. (REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo)
3 hours ago

Conflicting US-China Talks Statements Add to Global Trade Confusion

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend