What Lori Loughlin's Crime Really Cost Her

On Friday, August 21, after more than a year since the news of the college admissions scandal broke, Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli were handed their sentences for their involvement in Operation Varsity Blues (via CNN). The couple agreed to plea deals in May after months of insisting they had not done anything wrong, according to the Los Angeles Times. Loughlin got two months, while Giannulli got five — a sentence that was notably harsher than Felicity Huffman's, another big Hollywood name caught up in the scandal, who got just 14 days and served only 11 of those. 

At the proceeding, Loughlin finally addressed her wrongdoings, stating (via CBS Boston), "I made an awful decision. I went along with a plan to give my daughters an unfair advantage in the college admissions process. In doing so, I ignored my intuition and allowed myself to be swayed from my moral compass..." She continued, "And while I wish I could go back and do things differently, I can only take responsibility and move forward. I have great faith in God and I believe in redemption. And I will do everything in my power to redeem myself, and use this experience as a catalyst to do good and give back for the rest of my life."

Loughlin may be committed to giving back for the rest of her life, but we have to wonder how much of her own life she'll ever get back.

When the news of the scandal broke in March 2019, the consequences for Lori Loughlin were swift. Within a day of her arrest, the star had been fired from her roles on the Hallmark Channel, and ultimately let go from Netflix's Fuller House, where she had reprised her role from the late '80s and '90s as everyone's favorite aunt, Becky. Hallmark released a statement, as reported by the Associated Press on March 14, 2019, confirming Loughlin's release: "We are saddened by the recent allegations surrounding the college admissions process. We are no longer working with Lori Loughlin." The company continued saying that they had halted all productions Loughlin was involved in with Crown Media, including When Calls the Heart, her TV movie series Garage Sale Mysteries, and presumably a smattering of the channel's staple Christmas movies.

Aside from losing her roles and all the income that went along with those, Loughlin, along with Giannulli, had already paid $500,000 to fraudulently get their daughters into the University of Southern California, and were imposed fines by the judge of $150,000 and $250,000, respectively, for their roles in the scam (via CNN). Add onto that $900,000 figure what's likely to be some pretty exorbitant legal fees, and you're looking at well over $1 million in cash and even more in lost income. All told that's two months of jail time, 100 hours of community service, a boatload of money, and a career that may never be revived.