Lori Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannulli plead guilty in college admissions case

A judge will now decide whether to accept or reject the plea deals

Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli exit the Boston federal courthouse on 27 August 2019. (JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)

Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli have pleaded guilty in the college admissions scandal case.

The pair entered the plea on Friday during a video hearing.

A judge will now decide whether to accept or reject the plea deals after further consideration of the presentencing report.

The couple, who appeared on separate video screens, both sitting with a lawyer, made no comments during the hearing other than to answer the judge’s questions.

Authorities announced on Thursday that Loughlin and Giuannulli had both agreed to switch to guilty pleas, after initially pleading not guilty and maintaining their innocence.

They are accused of having paid $500,000 to get their daughters into the University of Southern California as recruits for the crew team, even though neither of them was involved in the sport.

Loughlin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, while Giannulli pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and honest services wire and mail fraud.

Prosecutors agreed to dismiss charges of money laundering and federal programmes bribery that were added after the case was filed.

Both plea agreements unveiled on Thursday include prison time.

Based on the terms of her agreement, Loughlin would face a two-month prison sentence, as well as a $150,000 fine and two years of supervised release with 100 hours of community service.

Giannulli, meanwhile, would spend five months behind bars and would be subjected to a $250,000 fine, as well as two years of supervised release with 250 hours of community service.

The pair became the 23rd and 24th parents to plead guilty in the case.

They had argued they believed their payments were legitimate donations and accused prosecutors of withholding evidence that would exonerate them. The judge this month rejected the defence’s bid to dismiss the case over allegations of misconduct by federal agents.

Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman previously served just under two weeks in prison after also taking a plea deal in the case.

The Associated Press contributed to this report