A federal judge is calling the conduct of law enforcement officials in the college admissions case against Lori Loughlin and others “serious and disturbing.” He ordered prosecutors to provide more information in what many observers are billing as a serious victory in the case.
As many will recall, the Full House star and her Guess designer husband Mossimo Giannulli have been accused of shelling out $500K in bribes to get their daughters Olivia Jade and Bella into University of Southern California.
U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton made his remarks in writing as defense teams for Loughlin and 13 other parents seek dismissal of the case due to alleged misconduct, USA Today reports.
One of the biggest causes of concern are notes that the scheme’s mastermind, Rick Singer, took on his iPhone about conversations with FBI investigators who he say were directing him to lie to parents in order to extract a confession.
“The Court considers the allegations in Singer’s October notes to be serious and disturbing,” Gorton wrote. “While government agents are permitted to coach cooperating witnesses during the course of an investigation, they are not permitted to suborn the commission of a crime.”
The judge has not dismissed the case, and is instead ordering prosecutors to respond to the defense teams’ allegations. They have until May 1 to do so.
Loughlin and seven other parents are scheduled to go on trial in Boston in October. If convicted, she and Giannulli face several decades behind bars.