Lori Loughlin is “still not ready” to make a plea to charges in the college admissions scam, according to CNN ― and a new report may explain why.
The actress doesn’t yet accept that it was against the law for Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannulli to pay $500,000 to have their two daughters admitted to the University of Southern California posing as crew athletes, according to People, which cited an unnamed source “close to the actress.”
“To her, it wasn’t egregious behavior,” the source said. “Was it entitled and perhaps selfish? Perhaps. But she didn’t see it as being a legal violation.” The source added that it was “taking some time for it to sink in.”
Loughlin, who starred as Aunt Becky on “Full House,” thought she was being a good parent getting her daughters into the prestigious private university, the insider said. “From the beginning, she didn’t want to take a deal, because she felt that she hadn’t done anything that any mom wouldn’t have done, if they had the means to do so,” People quoted the person as saying.
Loughlin and Giannulli are delaying a plea deal because “they are hoping to just let this play out in the judicial system,” CNN reported Thursday, citing an insider close to the pair.
“They are innocent until proven guilty,” the source added.
Loughlin’s failure to acknowledge the seriousness of her situation has been the subject of several reports this week. Sources noted that she had been “in complete denial” of her predicament until recently, and thought prosecutors were “bluffing.”
Loughlin and Giannulli were among numerous prominent figures charged last month with mail fraud and honest services mail fraud in the sprawling college admissions investigation. “Desperate Housewives” actress Felicity Huffman, among others, agreed to plead guilty this week.
Then federal prosecutors ratcheted up the pressure on Loughlin, slapping her with additional charges of conspiring to commit fraud and money laundering. She and her husband could face decades behind bars if convicted, although a maximum sentence would be highly unlikely.