When we last checked in on Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli, the federal judge had accepted their plea agreement with prosecutors and sentenced them to the deal they had also worked out with the feds: a two month federal detention for her, and five months for Mossimo. They immediately asked for staggered sentences so one of them can be home to “parent” their legally adult daughters, who are apparently still living at home. Lori apparently got to ask the feds for her own choice of federal prisons, and no joke, she chose the lowest security prison with yoga classes, music lessons and origami classes.
The his-and-hers California federal prisons where a judge has agreed to send Lori Loughlin and her husband to serve their upcoming sentences in the college admissions scandal are hardly Alcatraz. Both are low-security slammers within two hours of their $9.5 million mansion in a gated community west of Los Angeles.
If approved by the federal Bureau of Prisons, Loughlin’s new gated community will be the “Satellite Camp” of the Federal Correctional Institution in Victorville. The camp offers yoga, pilates and origami, as well as music lessons, including classes in saxophone, accordion, or ukulele, according to the facilities’ inmate handbook. Cartoon drawing, crochet, leather craft and ceramics are also on offer.
During her stay, the “Full House” star could also learn skills for a new career if her acting career is never revived — including how to drive a forklift, repair bicycles or be a dental assistant, the handbook advises.
That was Lori’s request and it was granted by the federal judge. It’s some kind of white privilege to demand to be sent to the prison of your choosing after committing a bunch of white collar crimes. Mossimo will be going to Lompoc – while it’s not some hardcore penitentiary, it will be a lot harsher for him than Lori’s, which sounds more like an inexpensive spa.
Amazingly, LeBron James had some thoughts about Lori Loughlin. I love it when he chimes in on pop culture headlines.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instagram.
What did LeBron say? Link is broken and there is no longer a post on Instagram.
You can find it on buzzfeed if you type in LeBron. The links are gone there also but the quotes are there, also screenshots of reactions to his post from Viola Davis, 50 Cent, T.I. etc..
https://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanschocket2/lebron-james-calls-out-lori-loughlin-prison-choice
I guess I’m glad there are prisons offering actual paths to rehabilitation and post incarceration employment.
@bettyrose, agreed. I hope there are additional ROP courses beyond dental assisting and bicycle repair. We need to have outlets and job opportunities for folks for when they get out of prison, as they are so much more likely to break the cycle that way. Then again, if they break the cycle, apparently they may be trained on how to fix it, so…
Yup.
All prisons should be like that one, allowing people to rehab and not just hurting them.
Being able to choose is pure privilege, but it speaks to how broken the system is that your prison can be another way to punish you.
White Privilege at its finest.
I’m no Aunt Becky apologist but FYI, it is completely standard in federal court for a criminal defendant to be able to request which prison to be designated to. The judge has discretion to pass along the defendant’s request to the Bureau of Prisons, and BOP makes the ultimate assignment. Typically, the judge will make whatever request the defendant wants when it comes to which prison location. The point is for defendants to be able to get assigned to prisons that will enable their family to visit. So this particular thing is unrelated to Loughlin’s immense privilege. (I’m an attorney and have done a lot of work on federal criminal cases.)
Thank you, I was going to say the same things. Every defendant can request a particular facility. Sometimes they get it, sometimes they do not.
Ultimately tho, the BOP does whatever they want, for whatever reasons they choose.
Whew! That is a steaming pile of white privilege right there. Shame on them.
What they should have done is sentenced her to watch those Hallmark movies 24/7.
Love it! Strapped to the chair, eyes taped open.
She would probably enjoy it.
My cousin works for DOJ/BOP. Attorneys can request an institution, judges do not have to approve. Minimum security for this sort of offense/sentence in the federal system is common and women’s institutions tend to offer a few more “amenities” than men’s. Being California they also have more federal facilities than other parts of the country. She also probably got “points” from the prosecutor for finally accepting a plea vs going to trial, where they would have argued for a harsher sentence/facility.
FWIW my cousin also told me if I ever opt for a life of crime, go for something with federal vs state charges as federal prisons are usually much better.
Having visited both federal and state prisons for my work, that is sound advice from your cousin.
Was she supposed to beg them to send her to Sing Sing? Sure, it’s the privilege of the rich, famous, and white. But I’m not going to blame her for not wanting to do real hard prison time. Personally, I don’t think her crime merits incarceration. If I’d been in charge of sentencing, there would have been a fine of twice the amount of their bribery and years of strictly monitored community service spread out over many legitimate non-profit organizations.
I agree with you about not warranting incarceration and instead imposing a fine, etc.
It’s just that the justice system Lori dealt with is 180 degrees different than what poor and minority offenders face. We should all be angry about that.
Sometimes I feel it’s easier to get angry at a person rather than a broader more vague concept like the broken judicial system. It seems insurmountable to fix, it’s overwhelming and hard to know where to start.
I agree. I don’t believe in incarceration for non-violent offenders who are not an ongoing threat to society. The U.S. has a sickness when it comes to incarceration, and non-violent, non-dangerous offenders could serve society in better ways. We had discussed in a previous thread that she should have to teach SAT prep courses at low income high schools. Others made the point that she’s probably not qualified to do that, but there’s gotta be some service she could reasonably provide thousands of hours of interacting with students in low income high schools and learning to have a conscience.
A difficulty is that fines are meaningless to people with tons of money. Even a little prison time seems to be more of a deterrent.
Her crime was not harmless – it had consequences for her daughters and others (cheating to get into a university does deprive someone else of a spot, and there are morale problems for other students at the school as well). What a message to give to their own kids. I’m sure that damage started much earlier as well. Did they even earn their own high school diplomas?
The problem with extended community service is that monitoring is not necessarily strict at all. Again, rich people can find ways to blow it off or just make it a publicity op for themselves. Not that it shouldn’t be tried, but there are systemic problems for people with money to burn.
Ridiculous, but not unexpected. Peak white privilege right there.
Will there be a rowing machine for her to take pictures on?
j/w, am I paying for these yoga and pilates lessons? because I sure as heck don’t have a gym membership for myself.
I think she will be reminded of what she had done for many moons after she serves her time because her criminal record will likely interfere with her travel and other plans. It will preclude her from sitting on boards of some charities, for example.
I grew up in Lompoc. Her husband is going to the white collar crime section, or camp as we called it. Whi h means he’ll get to walk around a little more freely, he’ll have to do some work, but overall if he makes friend with a guard he’ll do okay. The other part of the Lompoc Penn is not soft. My ex worked there and it’s no joke or light term sentence if he were to go with general population. Officers have been killed inmate riots, toilets have been torn out of concrete. It’s not a picnic. One year they closed a gym down because they killed an officer. People always assume it’s not a tough place when it’s really just one part.