# Felicity Huffman, Lori Loughlin indicted in Ivy League bribery scheme **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 12, 2019, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001 "2019-03-12T15:06:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2019, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/401 "2019-04-30T13:53:44Z")
Not everyone is a Christian Republican. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2019, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/402 "2019-04-30T14:23:18Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Not everyone is a Christian Republican. I think the implication is that most of her fan base is. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2019, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/403 "2019-04-30T16:25:27Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Sorry, Lori - even if the courts find you innocent you’ve already been tried in the court of public opinion and found guilty, or at least clueless. At present your reputation is mud and it’s most likely going to stay that way. I doubt it. It’s a non-violent white collar crime. People can tsk tsk at her but it’s not as though the typical Hallmark Channel viewer had their kid lose a place at USC because of her. She’s an attractive white woman with a history of acting in squeaky clean roles and people want to project being a “good person” on her. If she’s found guilty, she’ll act contrite and get a gig designing purses or jewelry to get her face on television again and start landing roles before you know it. Tons of celebrities have rehabbed themselves for far worse stuff. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/404 "2019-04-30T17:40:56Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Also, lets not look at the maximum sentence. In my jurisidtion, criminal damage has a max sentence of 14 years. Someone who has been arrested for spray painting? First offence, most likely a (small) fine. No way am I going to tell her the maximum sentence. You had me until this one. Why wouldn’t you tell her the maximum sentence, but preface it with what you said here. Say, “Look, the maximum sentence for this crime is 14 years, but typically for the first offense, it is a small fine. It is unlikely in the extreme that you would get anywhere near 14 years, or indeed any jail time at all, but that is what the book says, so I felt I needed to inform you of that.”? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2019, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/405 "2019-04-30T17:52:20Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I’m not so sure, those Christian Republicans seem to have a predilection for forgiveness. Y’know, when it’s another Christian Republican. > > I’m pretty sure she could reclaim any lost ground simply by saying she’s had a talk with God and she’s been forgiven, and reborn, faith renewed! I bet she spews a lot of bible quotes about loving one’s child, as her defense. > [@Broomstick](#): > > Not everyone is a Christian Republican. > [@hajario](#): > > I think the implication is that most of her fan base is. More significantly, the Christian Republican community has its own sort of ecosystem, which is capable of granting people a certain status that allows them to make a living even after violating the laws of secular society. ---
**Author:** ![Scoobysnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2019, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/406 "2019-05-01T19:56:50Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I doubt it. It’s a non-violent white collar crime. People can tsk tsk at her but it’s not as though the typical Hallmark Channel viewer had their kid lose a place at USC because of her. She’s an attractive white woman with a history of acting in squeaky clean roles and people want to project being a “good person” on her. If she’s found guilty, she’ll act contrite and get a gig designing purses or jewelry to get her face on television again and start landing roles before you know it. Tons of celebrities have rehabbed themselves for far worse stuff. Yup, if anything this will improve her marketability. Look at Martha Stewart, she was not hurt at all by her stint at Club Fed. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/407 "2019-05-01T20:14:03Z")
This has always sounded like a typical “I have a friend of a friend that can help” situations. Somebody probably told Lori that a friends child with low SAT scores had gotten into USC. Lori naturally asks how? She’s put in touch with someone and told some vague details. Bottom line, make a payment and it will happen. Both kids enroll at USC and life goes on. I understand she broke the law. This was not a crime demanding a prison sentence. Far from it. Imho. She was a consumer of an illegal operation. She didn’t plan or plot anything. Think of a drug transaction. The buyer at most, gets busted for possession of the drug bought. The serious charges go against the chain of people that made it available for sale. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2019, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/408 "2019-05-01T20:54:35Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > This has always sounded like a typical “I have a friend of a friend that can help” situations. > > Somebody probably told Lori that a friends child with low SAT scores had gotten into USC. Lori naturally asks how? She’s put in touch with someone and told some vague details. Bottom line, make a payment and it will happen. Both kids enroll at USC and life goes on. > > I understand she broke the law. This was not a crime demanding a prison sentence. Far from it. Imho. > > She was a consumer of an illegal operation. She didn’t plan or plot anything. > > Think of a drug transaction. The buyer at most, gets busted for possession of the drug bought. The serious charges go against the chain of people that made it available for sale. I assume you haven’t been following the story very closely, have you? From [here](https://brobible.com/culture/article/wiretapped-conversations-lori-loughlin-scam-college/) > [@](#): > > CW-1: If you ever– ever were to say anything. > > LOUGHLIN: So we– so we just– so we just have to say we made a donation to your foundation and that’s it, end of story. > > CW-1: That is correct. > > LOUGHLIN: Okay. > > CW-1: Terrific. > > LOUGHLIN: Okay. > > CW-1: I just wanted to make sure I touched base because I didn’t want you– > > LOUGHLIN: Yeah. > > CW-1: –to all of a sudden what– like what’s this call coming from. > > LOUGHLIN: Okay, yeah. Okay. Totally. All right. So– so that’s it. So it’s– it’s the IRS. It’s not anyone from USC, it’s the IRS. That’s the tax fraud part. Not a big deal? Someone else: > [@](#): > > William McGlashan, Jr., senior executive at a private equity firm in California, discussed creating a fake sports profile for his son > > CW-1: I have to do a profile for him in a sport, which is fine, I’ll create it. You know, I just need him-- I’ll pick a sport and we’ll do a picture of him, or he can, we’ll put his face on the picture whatever. Just so that he plays whatever. I’ve already done that a million times. So– > > McGLASHAN: Well, we have images of him in lacrosse. I don’t know if that matters. > > CW-1: They don’t have a lacrosse team. But as long as I can see him doing something, that would be fine. > > McGLASHAN: Yup. These are not just people buying drugs from an undercover narc. They were in the lab or the field helping to create the drugs. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2019, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/409 "2019-05-01T21:07:32Z")
I haven’t seen the leaked wiretap transcripts. That does make it worse. I don’t understand the tax fraud claim? Lori says it’s a payment to this guys foundation. Then says it’s to the IRS. That’s just a cover story for the payment? In case she’s asked? I don’t see a tax crime unless they stupidly claimed a tax deduction for this payment to a foundation? Is she did that… OMG she’s totally screwed. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2019, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/410 "2019-05-01T22:55:33Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I haven’t seen the leaked wiretap transcripts. That does make it worse. > > I don’t understand the tax fraud claim? > > Lori says it’s a payment to this guys foundation. Then says it’s to the IRS. That’s just a cover story for the payment? In case she’s asked? > > I don’t see a tax crime unless they stupidly claimed a tax deduction for this payment to a foundation? Is she did that… OMG she’s totally screwed. She took a tax write off for ‘donating’ $500,000 to Singer’s Key Foundation, which was a non profit, that claimed it’s mission was helping underserved children get into college. So yeah, she’s screwed. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/411 "2019-05-02T00:19:31Z")
This is a bigger case than I realized. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/412 "2019-05-02T01:09:24Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > She took a tax write off for ‘donating’ $500,000 to Singer’s Key Foundation, which was a non profit, that claimed it’s mission was helping underserved children get into college. So yeah, she’s screwed. Why hasn’t she been charged with that then? ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/413 "2019-05-02T01:15:23Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > She took a tax write off for ‘donating’ $500,000 to Singer’s Key Foundation, which was a non profit, that claimed its mission was helping underserved children get into college. She misread their mission statement. It actually says the Key Foundation is for hleping _undeserved_ kids into college. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/414 "2019-05-02T01:23:11Z")
Sorry! I already did that joke better. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/415 "2019-05-02T01:35:15Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Sorry! I already did that joke better. Sorry back atcha, I was just skimming down the page and misread the name myself. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/416 "2019-05-02T01:46:55Z")
$500,000 is nickel and dime stuff: > [@](#): > > From the day in March that prosecutors announced charges against 50 people in a sweeping college admissions fraud investigation, they have held out a tantalizing mystery: an unnamed family that they said had paid the college consultant at the center of the scheme **$6.5 million** — far more than any of the parents named in the case — to get their child into college. > > The student is Yusi Zhao, who was admitted to Stanford in 2017, according to a person with direct knowledge of the investigation. Neither she nor her parents, who live in Beijing, have been charged, and it is unclear whether they are currently being investigated. Stanford rescinded Ms. Zhao’s admission in April, and she is no longer a student there. > **[Chinese Family Reportedly Paid $6.5 Million to Consultant for Spot at...](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/us/yusi-zhao-stanford-university.html)** > > The student, Yusi Zhao, was admitted to Stanford in 2017. Her family had tried to get her recruited to the sailing program. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/417 "2019-05-02T03:37:50Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Why hasn’t she been charged with that then? According to the legal experts who have been commenting on the case, the feds have a process. First they charged her with fraud, then 30 days after she rejected the plea bargain, they added additional charges of money laundering, then apparently she (& others who have rejected the plea) will be charged with tax fraud and ‘other charges’. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/418 "2019-05-02T17:45:28Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > $500,000 is nickel and dime stuff: > > [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/us/yusi-zhao-stanford-university.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/us/yusi-zhao-stanford-university.html) It appears that parents in the LA area who have dealt with Singer are now sweating bricks about when they will be charged. High price lawyers there are doing quite well. It appears that some parents there who did not cheat are enjoying this quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/419 "2019-05-02T18:05:38Z")
Regarding the parents who paid $6.5 million to get their daughter into Stanford, would a straight, open donation of that much be enough to get her admitted? And if the answer is no, surely there are plenty of schools that would happily take that much for a guaranteed admission. ---
**Author:** ![sps49sd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@sps49sd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sps49sd)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/420 "2019-05-02T20:21:17Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Sorry, Lori - even if the courts find you innocent you’ve already been tried in the court of public opinion and found guilty, **or at least clueless**. At present your reputation is mud and it’s most likely going to stay that way. Clueless describes what I think of most Hollywood names. Most of them, especially the ones in front of the camera, don’t come across as bright at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001.md?page=22)