The former “Full House” star was taken to FCI Dublin, a low-security federal prison for roughly 1,200 female inmates in Dublin, California.
The 56-year-old “Full House” actor was sentenced to two months in prison in August after U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton accepted her plea agreement. She was also fined $150,000 and required to complete 100 hours of community service.
After completing her prison sentence, she will be under supervised release for two years.
“I made an awful decision,” Loughlin said at her sentencing. “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.
“Your Honor, I’m truly, deeply and profoundly sorry and I’m ready to accept the consequences and make amends.”
Her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, received five months in prison, a $250,000 fine, two years of supervised release and 250 hours of community service. Like Loughlin, he was ordered to surrender to the US Bureau of Prisons before 2 p.m. on November 19.
Giannulli and Loughlin became the face of the college admissions scandal and are arguably the parents with the highest profile who admitted to paying the scheme’s mastermind, William “Rick” Singer, $500,000 to get their daughters into college.
“I went along with a plan to give my daughters an unfair advantage in the college admissions process,” Loughlin said in August during her virtual sentencing hearing. “In doing so I ignored my intuition and allowed myself to be swayed from my moral compass. I thought I was acting out of love for my children. But in reality, it only undermined and diminished my daughters’ abilities and accomplishments.”
She said she now understood that her decision helped exacerbate existing inequalities in society.
“While I wish I could go back and do things differently, I can only take responsibility and move forward,” she said as her voice cracked and she began to cry.
“I am truly, profoundly and deeply sorry,” she said, using both hands to wipe tears from her face. “I’m ready to face the consequences and make amends.”
Loughlin, best known for her portrayal of Aunt Becky on the sitcom “Full House,” and Giannulli, a fashion designer, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges, taking advantage of what Singer referred to as his “side door” into the university by creating fake profiles for the girls and passing them off as recruits on the crew team.
Singer has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the federal investigation.
Loughlin and Giannulli were among the defendants who initially pleaded not guilty and were willing to roll the dice in court. But the couple changed their pleas in May and hammered out a deal with prosecutors. Loughlin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, and Giannulli pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and honest services wire and mail fraud.
