# 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:** 9
**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:** [March 14, 2019, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/161 "2019-03-14T03:49:22Z")
I don’t know. It seems like these famous people were singled out and used to send a message. Maybe not. Lets see how terrible the celebrity’s actions actually were. Did they devise this plan? Or did they make use of a illegal system already firmly established? ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/162 "2019-03-14T03:52:13Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > A reasonable bond would be a good start. No one got their legs broke, no one got beat up. > > Allegedly bribes were paid and false paperwork filed. It deserves prosecution, but yesterday’s raid seemed a bit over zealous. > > These people’s attorneys could have arranged for their clients to turn themselves in. The family net worth is apparently well over $100m, so this is less than 1% of that. They cpupd probably raise the cash, ao they will get it all back. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/163 "2019-03-14T04:09:26Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I don’t know. > > It seems like these famous people were singled out and used to send a message. > > Maybe not. Lets see how terrible the celebrity’s actions actually were. > > Did they devise this plan? Or did they make use of a illegal system already firmly established? They weren’t singled out. They broke the law and were found out during the investigation. And most of the people named were not famous, per se, just wealthy enough and unethical enough to pull it off…until they got caught. And they weren’t charged with creating the system. They were charged with using it, which is illegal. Furthermore, they knew it was illegal, though as any lawyer will tell you, ignorance of the law is no excuse. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/164 "2019-03-14T05:34:17Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > A reasonable bond would be a good start. No one got their legs broke, no one got beat up. > > Allegedly bribes were paid and false paperwork filed. It deserves prosecution, but yesterday’s raid seemed a bit over zealous. > > These people’s attorneys could have arranged for their clients to turn themselves in. What do you consider to be a reasonable bond? Bail is not a punishment. Bail is a surety guaranteeing a court appearance in lieu of staying in jail. One of the factors is the defendants ability to flee the jurisdiction of the court. These people all have the financial ability to flee prosecution. In the case of Loughlin the judge is even allowing her to leave the country for work. The price for that is a high bond. And as for the “raid” It seems like a very standard procedure for taking any suspect into custody. You don’t get a pass because you have a big bank account. These are charges that could have serious jail time attached. That’s how they’re being treated. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/165 "2019-03-14T05:39:42Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I don’t know. > > It seems like these famous people were singled out and used to send a message. > > Maybe not. Lets see how terrible the celebrity’s actions actually were. > > Did they devise this plan? Or did they make use of a illegal system already firmly established? 2 people out of 50 were famous. 3 if you know fashion designers. Personally I had never heard of Loughlin’s husband before this. That is not being singled out. This investigation started from information received during a completely different unrelated investigation. Someone was attempting to use fraudulent test data to enter several Boston area schools. Once the FBI picked up on that Investigation led where it led. I’m sure they had no idea the beginning of it that two actors were going to get arrested. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2019, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/166 "2019-03-14T06:48:33Z")
This will be in the news for quite awhile. The size and scope of the criminal activity could take years to get through the courts The BBC has a good article that summarizes what’s currently known. Loughlin should have made a legal contribution to USC. Maybe setup up an endowment or scholarship in the Arts? It’s beyond stupid to let your kids use athletic scholarships when they aren’t athletes. > **[Lori Loughlin: US actress released on bail in college cheating scam](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47557056)** > > The sitcom actress was freed on a $1m bond over a college-entrance scandal involving her daughters. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/167 "2019-03-14T11:57:18Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > 2 people out of 50 were famous. 3 if you know fashion designers. Personally I had never heard of Loughlin’s husband before this. That is not being singled out. This investigation started from information received during a completely different unrelated investigation. Someone was attempting to use fraudulent test data to enter several Boston area schools. Once the FBI picked up on that Investigation led where it led. I’m sure they had no idea the beginning of it that two actors were going to get arrested. Yeah it only looks “singled out” because those being the ones who are celebrities, they are the ones who make the papers and newscasts. As to the bribed v. donations thing, ISTM the issue is that this scheme was to pay third parties to fabricate qualifications (test scores, sports history) so as to make a false representation to the decision makers about the merit of the application, so as to induce a decision against policy. If there is a policy to easily admit/retain the children of big donors, or the star athletes, that’s allowed… but they have to actually be that. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/168 "2019-03-14T12:08:28Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Yeah it only looks “singled out” because those being the ones who are celebrities, they are the ones who make the papers and newscasts. > … Also because you never hear about all of the poor people that spend hundreds of thousands of dollars bribing their kids’ way into college. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/169 "2019-03-14T13:01:44Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > This will be in the news for quite awhile. The size and scope of the criminal activity could take years to get through the courts The BBC has a good article that summarizes what’s currently known. > > Loughlin should have made a legal contribution to USC. Maybe setup up an endowment or scholarship in the Arts? It’s beyond stupid to let your kids use athletic scholarshipswhen they aren’t athletes. > > [Lori Loughlin: US actress released on bail in college cheating scam](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47557056) It’s not stupid, it’s WRONG. Do you think it’s wrong? And that’s not what they did. They paid coaches to say they intended to put the kids on teams like water polo or crew. There were no scholarships. Imagine some kid. He’s worked really hard at school, has good grades and all that, and he’s also amazing at rowing. Has gotten up every day at 4:00 AM for 4 years to go to crew practice. Starting sophomore year, the USC coach showed interest in him, so he doubled his efforts, knowing this was the best way to get into a selective schools. Endless practices, meets, injuries. The whole time, the USC coach is checking in on him, giving him tips, telling him everything is on track and he’s a great candidate. Then, one day, the USC coach just ghosts him. Kid can’t figure out what he did wrong: his stats are as good as ever, he’s at his peak, he’s well within the academic guidelines the coach told him he had to meet. But now the guy won’t return his calls and the kid gets rejected from the school he was all but promised admission to–a school with great financial aid, as well, so if he’d gotten in, he could have afforded to go. Now he’s gotta find another school, and hope he can walk on to the crew team. He will always wonder what happened–did he say something that pissed off the coach? Did some other kid call the coach and tell a lie about him? Was there something in a teacher’s rec letter? He will wrack his brains trying to figure it out. What he didn’t know, of course, is that it wasn’t about him at all. Someone paid the coach $500K to “make room” for him. Finally, $500k scholarship wouldn’t have gotten a weak kid into USC. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/170 "2019-03-14T13:09:54Z")
I do wonder if the Feds understood the timing on all this. Admissions decisions for highly selective schools start rolling out this week: MIT is always today (Pi day; they think that’s cute). CalTech was Saturday because they always go before MIT. The rest roll out between now and the 1st, with Ivy Day (the 28th this year) being basically the climax. Anyway, this is JUST early enough for most of those schools to call their coaches in and say “Are you SURE all the recruited athletes you recommended are legit?” I can’t believe this was the only dude bribing coaches. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/171 "2019-03-14T13:17:00Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > Imagine some kid. He’s worked really hard at school, has good grades and all that, and he’s also amazing at rowing. Has gotten up every day at 4:00 AM for 4 years to go to crew practice. Starting sophomore year, the USC coach showed interest in him, so he doubled his efforts, knowing this was the best way to get into a selective schools. Endless practices, meets, injuries. The whole time, the USC coach is checking in on him, giving him tips, telling him everything is on track and he’s a great candidate. Then, one day, the USC coach just ghosts him. Kid can’t figure out what he did wrong: his stats are as good as ever, he’s at his peak, he’s well within the academic guidelines the coach told him he had to meet. But now the guy won’t return his calls and the kid gets rejected from the school he was all but promised admission to–a school with great financial aid, as well, so if he’d gotten in, he could have afforded to go. Now he’s gotta find another school, and hope he can walk on to the crew team. He will always wonder what happened–did he say something that pissed off the coach? Did some other kid call the coach and tell a lie about him? Was there something in a teacher’s rec letter? He will wrack his brains trying to figure it out. > > What he didn’t know, of course, is that it wasn’t about him at all. Someone paid the coach $500K to “make room” for him. Kudos for the very best I’ve read on this subject so far! ---
**Author:** ![StraightTalk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straighttalk/32/9982_2.png) [@StraightTalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StraightTalk)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/172 "2019-03-14T14:53:37Z")
I read in an article: “Mr Giannulli faced the same charges on Tuesday and was forced to put the family’s house up as collateral to pay his $1m bond.” He’s worth 80M and she’s worth 8M. Why do they have to put their house up as collateral? ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/173 "2019-03-14T15:00:15Z")
> [@StraightTalk](#): > > I read in an article: > > “Mr Giannulli faced the same charges on Tuesday and was forced to put the family’s house up as collateral to pay his $1m bond.” > > He’s worth 80M and she’s worth 8M. Why do they have to put their house up as collateral? Probably easier and lower risk than liquidating other assets. It’s probably a real low rate of interest. They know they aren’t fleeing, so it won’t be for long. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/174 "2019-03-14T15:11:26Z")
Maybe someone can confirm or clarify something for me? Loughlin has been accused of paying a coach to say her daughters are on the rowing team? That got them accepted at UCA. There’s also very troubling reports of cheating on the entrance exams. Employees falsifying test results. Academic fraud is very serious. I haven’t seen any claims Loughlin’s daughters were involved in the exam cheating? That’s my impression of the reporting. Either way it’s serious and some people may end up in jail. > [@](#): > > Authorities say Ms Loughlin and her husband, designer Mossimo Giannulli, paid $500,000 in bribes to have their two daughters admitted into the University of Southern California (USC) as fake rowing-team recruits. > > The accused parents - many of whom are celebrities or CEOs of major companies - allegedly paid a firm up to $6.5m (£4.9m) to cheat on students’ college entrance exams or bribe top coaches to offer fake athletic scholarships for non-athletic students. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/175 "2019-03-14T15:18:25Z")
There is no evidence they were criminally involved, no. It is, however, rather impossible to believe her kid didn’t know something. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/176 "2019-03-14T15:18:34Z")
But they posed for fake photos indicating they were rowers, I thought. That doesn’t exactly scream ‘We couldn’t have known!’ Maybe make anyone so admitted resit their entrance exams, if they can pass they get to keep their degrees! If they don’t, they don’t. (Give them a few months to study first.) ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/177 "2019-03-14T15:24:44Z")
> [@](#): > > But they posed for fake photos indicating they were rowers, I thought. [Someone said earlier](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21533390&postcount=24) that some of the photos (didn’t say which) were stock photos with these kids’ (again, not saying which kids) heads photoshopped on. If so, the parents could have provided photos the and the kids been ignorant of that. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/178 "2019-03-14T15:25:07Z")
I wonder how many coaches were approached and turned them down, surely there were some who said no. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/179 "2019-03-14T15:26:08Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Maybe someone can confirm or clarify something for me? > > Loughlin has been accused of paying a coach to say her daughters are on the rowing team? That got them accepted at UCA. > > There’s also very troubling reports of cheating on the entrance exams. Employees falsifying test results. Academic fraud is very serious. > > I haven’t seen any claims Loughlin’s daughters were involved in the exam cheating? > > That’s my impression of the reporting. > > Either way it’s serious and some people may end up in jail. Maybe, just like these kids, you can do your own homework. Everything you’ve asked is already in this thread. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2019, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/180 "2019-03-14T15:28:54Z")
It would be poetic justice to tell those girls you’re on the rowing team. That means you get up at 5AM and train with the team. Their hands would be blistered by the end of the first day. 😃 4 long years of rowing. That would teach them a lesson they’d never forget. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001.md?page=10)