The proceedings came three weeks after 50 people were charged with taking part in a scheme in which parents bribed coaches and helped rig test scores to get their children into some of the nation’s most selective universities, including Yale, Stanford, Georgetown, UCLA and the University of Southern California.
It was the biggest college admissions scheme ever prosecuted by the U.S. Justice Department.
Loughlin, who appeared in the 1980s and ’90s sitcom “Full House,” is accused along with Giannulli of paying $500,000 to get their daughters admitted as recruits to the USC crew team, even though neither is a rower. Authorities said the couple helped create fake athletic profiles for their daughters by having them pose for photos on rowing machines.
The Hallmark Channel, where Loughlin starred in popular holiday movies and the series “When Calls the Heart,” cut ties with her a day after her arrest.
Huffman, the former “Desperate Housewives” star, is charged with paying the admissions consultant at the center of the scheme $15,000 to have a proctor correct the answers on her daughter’s SAT exam.
Huffman, Loughlin and Giannulli have not publicly addressed the allegations.
They and others are charged with conspiracy and fraud, which carries up to 20 years in prison. But first-time offenders typically get only a fraction of that, and experts said some parents may avoid prison if they quickly agree to plead guilty.
Other parents charged in the case include the former co-chairman of an international law firm and the former head of a Silicon Valley venture capital firm.
Three people have pleaded guilty, including the admissions consultant, Rick Singer, and the former women’s soccer coach at Yale, Rudy Meredith.
On Wednesday, Loughlin smiled as she walked out of the courthouse and climbed into a black SUV with her lawyers. A fan shouted, “I love you, Felicity!” as Huffman emerged from the courthouse with her brother.
