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Report: Lori Loughlin Feeling Pressure To Plead Guilty To ‘Protect Her Daughters’

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Katie Jerkovich Entertainment Reporter
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Lori Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannulli reportedly have “every reason to believe” their daughters could be targets of prosecution and are feeling pressure to plead guilty to protect them.

A source close to the 54-year-old actress shared with People magazine Monday that the former “Full House” actress is willing to do whatever it takes to shield her daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella Giannulli from the fallout after she and her husband pleaded not guilty for their alleged connection with “Operation Varsity Blues.”(RELATED: Lori Loughlin’s Daughter Bragged About Going To School To Party)

Olivia Jade Giannulli, Lori Loughlin and Isabella Rose Giannulli attend The Women's Cancer Research Fund's An Unforgettable Evening Benefit Gala at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on February 28, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Olivia Jade Giannulli, Lori Loughlin and Isabella Rose Giannulli attend The Women’s Cancer Research Fund’s An Unforgettable Evening Benefit Gala at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on February 28, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

“Lori [Loughlin] will not do anything to put her daughters in harm’s way,” an insider shared. “She is like a mama bear when it comes to the girls, and she will do whatever she has to do to protect them from prosecution, especially malicious prosecution. Her top priority in all of this is to protect her daughters.”(RELATED: REPORT: 7 FBI Agents Arrested Felicity Huffman At Gunpoint)

“The prosecution could easily charge the daughters in an attempt to get them [Loughlin and Giannulli] to plead guilty,” the source added. “But investigators have not disclosed any information that they may or may not have that would implicate either one of the daughters.” (RELATED: Lori Loughlin Released After Paying $1 Million Bond)

The source continued, “They [Loughlin and Giannulli] feel that they’re in the middle of a squeeze play right now. It’s very complex, legally. On one hand, they have pleaded not guilty to the offenses they are alleged to have committed. But on the other hand, they know that pleading guilty could put the matter behind the whole family.”

“They are under an enormous amount of pressure, and the idea that the girls could be prosecuted is distressing, as you can imagine,” the source shared. “That just makes the pressure worse.”

“It’s not in their best interest for this to go to trial, and Lori knows it,” an insider previously explained. “She will continue to make a good faith effort to put this case behind her, and she hopes the prosecutors will do the same.”

 

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It all comes on the heels of reports that the actress and her husband pleaded not guilty last week to charges of conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The pair are accused of allegedly paying $500,000 in bribes to get their daughters into the University of Southern California (USC) by pretending their girls were competitive rowing recruits.

One of Loughlin’s former co-stars, Bob Saget, told the outlet Monday that “It’s personal and that’s where I’m keeping it and there’s 30 years of love there. More than that. So that’s all I got.”

“I love her [Loughlin] very much,” he added. “And that’s it. That would be my — that’s more than a no comment!”