Did prison destroy Lori Loughlin’s acting career?

Lori Loughlin, a former Full House star, is making her way back to acting after her prison stint. In 2019, the actress was involved in a college admission bribery scandal that exposed fifty individuals for falsifying entrance exam documents and bribing top college admission staff. 

After two months in prison, Lori Loughlin apparently still has the privilege of bouncing back into the spotlight. She will be reprising her role as Abigail Stanton in the Hallmark Channel series When Calls the Heart.

Although being fired from Hallmark in 2019 due to the scandal, Lori Loughlin will return to the spin-off series. However, the show has been moved to a different network called GAC Family, formerly known as the Great American Country Network. Learn how Lori Loughlin & others were sent to prison due to bribery.

Lori Loughlin involved in college admission scandal

Season 6 of When Calls the Heart was already filmed when Hallmark fired Loughlin in the midst of “Operation Varsity Blues”, the exposure of several wealthy parents who were accused of paying millions of dollars to top universities. 

Some of the fraud committed includes faked extracurriculars and falsely inflated college entrance exam scores so their children could be accepted to top schools like the University of Southern California & Stanford University.

According to the criminal complaint against them, Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli were accused of paying $500,000 to falsely designate their daughters, Olivia Jade Giannulli and Isabella Rose Giannulli as recruits to the University of Southern California crew team. Neither of them ever participated in the sport.

A judge approved the couple’s plea deal, sentencing her to two months in jail, a $150,000 fine, and 150 hours of community service, while Giannulli, 57, received five months in jail, a $250,000 fine, and 250 hours of community service.

Lori Loughlin is currently on probation after serving a two-month prison sentence, while her husband served a five-month sentence. Mercury News reported earlier this month that a federal judge in Boston gave the actress authorization to travel to Canada and return to acting.

Loughlin returns to acting in When Calls the Heart

When Calls the Heart was swiftly removed from the Hallmark schedule in 2019 due to the scandal. Loughlin was subsequently fired from all Hallmark-related projects. The rest of season 6 was released after Loughlin was edited out of the remaining episodes.

However, Lori Loughlin will now reprise her role as Abigail Stanton on the season’s two-part premiere, When Hope Calls: A Country Christmas, which will premiere on December 18th.

When Calls the Heart tells the story of Elizabeth Thatcher, a young teacher accustomed to her high-society life. She receives her first classroom assignment in Coal Valley, a small coal-mining town in Western Canada. Wishing to thrive in this 1910 coal town, Elizabeth must learn the ways of the Canadian frontier.

Other celebrities involved in college admission scandal

More than fifty people were charged with partaking in the college admissions scandal which included bribery, money laundering, and document fabrication to illegally get students admitted to elite schools.

The list of parents involved in the bribery scandal includes numerous CEOs, investors, and media executives. Other than Lori Loughlin, Felicity Huffman stands as one of the most famous celebrities involved in the fraud scheme.

Felicity Huffman is an Academy Award-nominated actress known for her roles in Desperate Housewives and Magnolia. Huffman pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest service mail fraud. As a result, she was sentenced to 14 days in prison, 250 hours of community service, one year’s supervised release, and a $30,000 fine.

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It’s clear that elite celebrities can remain elite despite serving prison time for bribery & fraud. Do you think Lori Loughlin should return to acting? Was her two-month prison sentence fair? Let us know in the comments below.