Lori Loughlin Gives Glimpse of Defense in College Admission Scam
Lori Loughlin Gives Glimpse of Defense in College Admission Scam
(Bloomberg) -- Sitcom star Lori Loughlin and her husband, designer Mossimo Giannulli, gave donations -- not bribes -- to the University of Southern California, their lawyer told a federal judge, offering a glimpse of the famous couple’s defense in the biggest U.S. college admissions scam ever prosecuted.
There is “zero evidence” of bribery, William Trach of Latham & Watkins LLP said at a hearing in federal court in Boston on Tuesday.
Prosecutors claim the pair bribed former assistant athletics director Donna Heinel through payments to funds she controlled and bribes funneled through a charity set up by the scam’s admitted mastermind to get their two daughters into USC. Heinel has pleaded not guilty.
The defense contends that the couple merely supported the charity, the Key Worldwide Foundation, as a registered nonprofit group that gave “legitimate donations” to support opportunities for underprivileged students.
“The evidence in this case is there were checks made out to USC Athletics and to a fund at USC,” Trach told the court. “Those checks were cashed by USC, and there were payments to Key Worldwide Foundation.”
Prosecutors had sought the hearing to blunt any future appeal claiming defense attorneys were ineffective or had conflicts of interest. On Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen told the judge both spouses knew about the scheme to pay $500,000 in bribes to USC employees, but he implied some of the evidence is more incriminating against Giannulli, raising questions about the soundness of a joint defense.
“In this case I do think the evidence here is a bit more challenging than some of the other husband-and-wife defendants we’ve dealt with,” Rosen said.
He alluded to a “confrontation” between Giannulli and a California high school guidance counselor who he said voiced suspicion when he learned that the daughters, who weren’t rowers, had won admission to USC as crew team recruits.
“Obviously that is going to be an important event in the government’s case,” Rosen said. Trach downplayed the alleged event.
“Do you feel you understand the risks involved in dual representation?” U.S. Magistrate Judge M. Page Kelley asked the couple. Both said they did and waived their rights to separate defense attorneys.
The government has charged 34 parents in the scandal, of whom 15 have pleaded guilty to fraud. William “Rick” Singer has admitted to leading the sprawling operation, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges and is cooperating in the prosecution.
As the U.S. has laid out the scheme, Singer took thousands of dollars from wealthy clients to fix their children’s entrance exam scores and hundreds of thousands in bribes for college athletic coaches to put the kids on recruiting rosters, assuring them of places in elite colleges across the country, including Stanford, Yale and Georgetown. None of the colleges or students have been charged.
Several of the lawyers representing the 19 parents facing trial have said Singer’s credibility will be at the heart of their defense.
Of Loughlin and Giannulli, Trach said it’s “a question of what it is they knew about what it is Mr. Singer may or may not have been doing with Key Worldwide Foundation and in respect to the employees at USC.”
The judge said she would accept the couple’s waivers but didn’t immediately rule on prosecutors’ argument that another law firm involved in Giannulli’s defense, Donnelly, Conroy & Gelhaar LLP, must withdraw because it represents a parent, Davina Isackson, who has pleaded guilty to bribing former USC officials and could be called to testify.
After the hearing, Loughlin and Giannulli quickly left the courtroom, holding hands tightly as they made their way past a scrum of cameras and onlookers.
Loughlin, a fixture of television comedy and drama, is perhaps most famous as Aunt Becky on the ABC sitcom “Full House” and the Netflix reboot “Fuller House.” Another star caught up in the case, Felicity Huffman, pleaded guilty to paying $15,000 to fix her daughter’s SAT. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 13. Prosecutors want her to serve four months.
The case is U.S. v. Abbott, 19-mj- 6087, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts (Boston).
To contact the reporter on this story: Janelle Lawrence in Boston at jlawrence62@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Peter Jeffrey
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.