Lori Loughlin ‘Stressing Out’ Over Felicity Huffman Sentence, Legal Experts Say, Could Face ‘Years’ In Prison
After Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman was sentenced to a jail term of two weeks, and a fine of $30,000 for paying a $15,000 bribe to help her daughter raise her SAT test score, as The Inquisitr reported, another top Hollywood actress accused in the widespread college admissions scandal, Lori Loughlin, should “freak out” about the sentence she is likely to receive, legal experts say.
“This should freak out Loughlin,” wrote attorney Bradley P.Moss, as quoted by the legal news site Law and Crime, telling the site that while Huffman, 56, struck a plea deal and quickly expressed remorse for her actions, Loughlin, 55, “stood defiant.”
The Fuller House star reportedly refused prosecutors’ offers of a plea deal and as a result was slapped with a new indictment charging her with additional crimes and could now face up to 40 years behind bars. While a sentence of that length is unlikely, Loughlin could indeed face “years in jail” if a jury finds her guilty at trial, Moss told Law and Crime.
Another attorney, Mark Zaid, wrote on his Twitter feed following the Huffman sentencing, that Loughlin “is definitely stressing out now.” While Huffman was accused of paying a $15,000 bribe, Loughlin’s alleged offenses are much more serious.
Loughlin, prosecutors allege, shelled out a whopping $500,000 in bribes to get her two daughters into the University of Southern California — and created false records of athletic achievements in order to get both daughters designated as recruits for the USC crew team, as The Inquisitr has reported.
Bob Bianchi, a former New Jersey prosecutor and now Fox News legal analyst, said that the Huffman sentence should “frighten” Loughlin, as quoted by Law and Crime, adding that Loughlin’s “legal strategy and public relations has been horrible.”
Law and Crime reporter Matt Naham compared Loughlin’s case to that of former insurance executive Toby MacFarlane who pleaded guilty to charges similar to those admitted to by Huffman, but also confessed to a conspiracy aimed at “getting my children into USC as recruited athletes when in fact they’re not.”
MacFarlane received a sentence of 15 months in prison, plus a $95,000 fine.
Huffman’s defense lawyers had pushed for no jail time, while prosecutors asked for a one-month sentence, but federal Judge Indira Talwani came down in the middle, telling Huffman in court, “Without this sentence, I think you’d be looking at a future where the community around you asks why you’ve gotten away with this,” as quoted by Daily Beast reporter Olivia Messer via Twitter.
