College Admissions Scandal: Felicity Huffman Arrested!

[Glasgowghirl]

Felicity Huffman will serve only 14 days in jail for her part in the scandal. I think the sentence is a joke, I am not unforgiving of her or most of the people involved in this, I think most of them started from wanting what's best from their children and then gradually pushed things further but they all broke the law and knew what they were doing was illegal and should be punished for it, other poorer people have had harsh punishments for saying their children lived at relatives houses so they qualified for better school districts.

Lori and her husband are two that I do not even have an ounce of compassion they are refusing to admit their mistakes and seem to have installed in their daughters that it's ok to lie, cheat and break the law and when caught make a big joke about it. They are not sorry for what they have done and are making a mockery out of the whole thing. 

[Terrie]

She's also being fined $30k. I'd rather see a bigger fine, than a bigger prison sentence, since this was a crime about money. You think your money gets you special privilege? Great, we'll take that.

[47of74]

Lori and some of the other parents are in even more trouble now.

Quote

Parents who have pleaded not guilty in the college admissions scam, including Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli, now face an additional bribery charge, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Eleven parents -- Gamal Abdelaziz, Diane Blake, Todd Blake, Giannulli, Elisabeth Kimmell, Loughlin, William McGlashan Jr., Marci Palatella, John Wilson, Homayoun Zadeh, and Robert Zangrillo -- were charged in a superseding indictment with conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, prosecutors said.

Loughlin and these parents already faced charges of conspiracy fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The charges are all part of the sprawling scheme to use their wealth to cheat, bribe and lie in an effort to game the college admissions system.

They now face a maximum of up to 45 years in prison for the charges.

 

[AmazonGrace]

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/olivia-jade-giannulli-youtube-return-lori-loughlin-college-admissions-scandal-a9230086.html

I don't understand why she wouldn't be legally allowed to talk about it? Sure, her family lawyers may have told her it's wiser to shut up. But why would there be a gag order?

[Bethella]

22 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

I don't understand why she wouldn't be legally allowed to talk about it? Sure, her family lawyers may have told her it's wiser to shut up. But why would there be a gag order?

Totally a guess on my part, but perhaps due to the high profile nature of the case, they don’t want to have (more) information out there to influence prospective jurors.

[47of74]

Hot Pockets heiress Michelle Janavs has been sentenced for her role in the scandal

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Former food company executive Michelle Janavs was sentenced to five months in prison Tuesday for paying bribes in the college admissions scam, the US Attorney's Office in Massachusetts said.

Janavs, whose family invented Hot Pockets, paid the scheme's mastermind, Rick Singer, $100,000 to cheat on two of her daughters' ACTs, and agreed to pay $200,000 to have one of the daughters admitted to University of Southern California as a "fake beach volleyball recruit," according to a sentencing memorandum.

Janavs, 49, was one of four defendants who are "far and away the most culpable parents" in the admissions scandal, the memorandum states. Janavs and the three others are "repeat players, who engaged in the conspiracy again and again, over years."

Janavs in October pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

I guess that's something though she probably should have gone to jail longer.  We're in a country where minorities that so much as look funny at a cop face summary execution and if Janavs wasn't white she'd probably be doing a lot more than 5 months.

[47of74]

Aunt Becky is going from the Full House to the Big House!

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Court papers show actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, have agreed to plead guilty to charges that will include prison time in the college admissions bribery case.

The couple agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud in a plea agreement filed in Boston's federal court.

The charge carries up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

 

[47of74]

Surprise, Aunt Becky’s kids were in on it too. 
https://jezebel.com/looks-like-aunt-beckys-daughters-were-involved-in-the-c-1844766640

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According to US Weekly, Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin O’Connell, a prosecutor in the case, sent a memo to the judge saying, that both kids were part of the scheme. “They involved both their daughters in the fraud, directing them to pose in staged photographs for use in fake athletic profiles and instructing one daughter how to conceal the scheme from her high school counselor.” The memo also says that Aunt Becky warned Olivia Jade to be careful when talking to her private tutor about her top choice school, USC. “It might be a flag for the weasel to meddle,” she reportedly told her daughter. “Don’t say too much to that man.” Apparently Becky also referred to him as a “nosey bastard.”

 

[front hugs > duggs]

3 hours ago, 47of74 said:

Surprise, Aunt Becky’s kids were in on it too. 
https://jezebel.com/looks-like-aunt-beckys-daughters-were-involved-in-the-c-1844766640

 

So if access to a private tutor STILL isn't enough to get you into USC, maybe you shouldn't go as it could indicate you can't handle the course load? It's so sad to think of all the bright kids in this country who simply aren't given the same opportunities.

[Glasgowghirl]

I'm not surprised both girls were in on it but I place the blame mainly on the parents, they were old enough to know it was wrong but when your parents are the ones pressuring you to lie and cheat and you are under pressure from them to also get into a good college then I can see why they went along with the lies. Olivia Jade clearly didn't even want to go to that college, if she had been allowed to do a fashion or beauty course it would have been so much better for her, she already had a successful youtube channel doing that. I do feel degree of sympathy for both girls who now face a massive backlash, having their parents sent to jail and any future achievements that they do on their own merit may be discredited because of the cheating scandal, even if their parents do serve any time, I still think the daughters will pay a heavier price for this. 

[Coconut Flan]

Not to mention USC isn't that hard to get into.  But yes, if you need a private tutor to make the grades and test scores to get in, it likely isn't the best match for you especially since they weren't going to a disadvantaged high school.  It doesn't seem either daughter was planning a career where the USC degree would make that much difference either.

[JermajestyDuggar]

12 hours ago, front hugs > duggs said:

So if access to a private tutor STILL isn't enough to get you into USC, maybe you shouldn't go as it could indicate you can't handle the course load? It's so sad to think of all the bright kids in this country who simply aren't given the same opportunities.

Exactly. I’m disgusted that the rich and wealthy already get tons of extra help and then have to cheat on top of it. I am sure this happens all the time and aunt Becky is just one of the unlucky ones that got caught. 

[JenniferJuniper]

I not a big believer in prison time for non-violent offenders.  Maybe because my cousin's wife went to a federal prison camp for a few years for embezzling a princely sum from her employer. They didn't need the money.  She came out 40 pounds lighter, less stressed, and although it was pretty boring, she met some really nice people there. 

I think a better solution is to put them to work full-time where they are required to interact with those less fortunate. Sure you can go home every night, but if you want to avoid three years in prison you need to spend three years cleaning, cooking, and helping people in meaningful ways in a homeless shelter or even a "real" prison.  Pipe dream, I know, as it would probably be impossible to administer, but it seems somehow more appropriate.

With that said, there is something satisfying about the thought of Aunt Becky doing time. 

[Pecansforeveryone]

I think there is something to be said for reparative and restorative justice where possible, rather  than just punitive justice. 

[Howl]

I've always rather admired Martha Stewart for getting after it, doing her time and getting it over with and done.  She spent her time there productively.

I would think that many don't even know that she went to prison for insider trading. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

2 minutes ago, Howl said:

I've always rather admired Martha Stewart for getting after it, doing her time and getting it over with and done.  She spent her time there productively.

I would think that many don't even know that she went to prison for insider trading. 

I think it was slightly surprising because I always got the impression she was snobby. But obviously she wasn’t as snobby as I thought since she got along with a lot of other women in less fortunate life situations than herself. 

[Coconut Flan]

I found this fascinating at the time so remember.  Martha wasn't convicted of insider trading, but of lying to the investigators.  Thus the cover up gets you every time. 

Quote

she was found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and lying to federal investigators in March 2004. The securities fraud charge (related to boosting the stock of her own company) was dismissed.

 

[47of74]

Another one who paid bribes to get his kids into school

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A Maryland businessman paid Harvard University's former fencing coach at least $1.5 million in bribes, including payments for a car and a house in the suburbs, to get his sons admitted to the Ivy League school, federal prosecutors said in a criminal complaint released Monday.

Jie "Jack" Zhao, 61, and Peter Brand, 67, were arrested Monday and charged with conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery for the alleged agreement, the US Attorney's Office in the District of Massachusetts said.

Zhao, of Potomac, Maryland, is the CEO of telecom company iTalk Global Communications. He was scheduled to appear Monday in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Brand was Harvard's men's and women's fencing coach from 1999 until last year, when he was fired by the university following an investigation spurred by reporting from The Boston Globe on his suspiciously expensive house sale. He will appear in federal court in Boston on Monday afternoon.