Lori Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannulli are in a whole lot of trouble that could land them in prison for years.
The celebrity couple were indicted on felony charges of Mail Fraud at first but once Loughlin called federal prosecutors’ bluff to make a plea deal, they threw a whole bunch of other charges at them.
And these legal experts predict the detrimental effect of Lori Loughlin’s future.
You already know Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli allegedly donated $500,000 to the University of Southern California’s Crew even though neither one of their daughters are actually on the team.
In a massive nationwide FBI sting, they were two of the approximately fifty people who were charged in education scandals.
The FBI charged them both with Mail Fraud.
A source told E!, “She has been in complete denial and thought maybe she could skate by. She refused to accept any jail time and thought the DA was bluffing. She was adamant she wouldn’t do any jail time. Lori is finally realizing just how serious this is. She is seeing the light that she will do jail time and is freaking out.”
But the prosecutors aren’t playing games any longer.
A California-based attorney, Lara Yeretsian, told Fox News, “She can enter a plea of guilty or not guilty, I mean her options are limited. It’s that simple. Since she doesn’t have a negotiated plea, her only remaining option would have been not guilty. She’s not going to go and say I’m guilty if she doesn’t have a negotiated plea in place that she’s happy with.”
But she did have a plea deal or the option to negotiate a plea deal before Loughlin called their bluff. In the Judicial system and prosecution world, the last thing in the world you want to do is force them to spend a lot of money trying to convict you and then do a 180 begging for a plea deal.
The more money they spend; the more they want to put you away. It’s that simple. If you maintain your innocence through the process and are still found guilty then it’s likely you’ll be sentenced a whole lot more time than if you admitted your guilt immediately. The courts are likely to take pity on someone when they own up to their mistakes.
Former New York State Prosecutor Adam Citron also said, “This was totally expected and normal operating procedure. Once Loughlin rejected the initial pre-indictment plea offer, and the prosecutor went forward and secured a formal indictment, procedure requires a formal arraignment on the indictment.”
And when you’re still in denial then that’s when things escalate.
Citron also explained, “Loughlin’s plea of not guilty was expected and again procedural in nature. It in no way signals that she will not later decide to take a plea deal and plead guilty. This plea of not guilty in no way forecloses her from later accepting a plea offer and pleading guilty. That being said, one must be offered by the prosecution. To that end, this not guilty plea does not foreclose her, through her attorneys, from attempting to negotiate a post-indictment plea arrangement with the prosecution.”
So what happens now is the prosecutors hold a lot more time over Loughlin’s head in order to force her into a plea deal. Unfortunately, our Justice system is a game.
Yeretsian also noted, “She was in a better place initially with just the one charge of mail fraud that she was looking at, but since nothing happened they must have been at an impasse with the prosecution asking her being stuck in a certain guideline range where she was probably looking at real time in custody, and I’m guessing that was the issue. But now it’s worse because she’s looking at more time, unfortunately for her.”
Her attorneys could drag it out for as long as possible and complicate it for the prosecutors as much as possible but it’s a dangerous gamble because that will only make the State want to seek as much prison time as possible.
Loughlin is in a life-altering pickle, that’s for sure.