Lori Loughlin’s team won’t return to the federal courthouse in Boston until 2020.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts updated its schedule to show that Loughlin’s next appearance will be Jan. 17, 2020, for a status conference at 11 a.m.
The defendant, Loughlin, is not required to attend the conference.
A status conference is a pre-trial meeting where attorneys talk with a judge to lay out the progress of the case and establish a timeline for forthcoming events and a trial.
Context: Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, are accused of paying $500,000 in bribes so that their daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella Giannulli, could be crew team recruits for the University of Southern California.
Flashback: Loughlin’s team appeared in court on Oct. 2, 2019, for a status conference. Loughlin appeared for a status conference in June. At the time, the attorney’s office told the Deseret News that defendants aren’t required to attend.
- In August, Loughlin appeared in court for a 45-minute appearance. She slipped in through the backdoor, avoiding the press, as reported by the Deseret News. The Associated Press and MSNBC both captured photos and videos of Loughlin, though, who avoided fans waiting outside for her.
- The brief moment was quite a difference from her original appearance in court last April. Loughlin went in through the front door, greeting the screaming fans who were there to support her. According to reports, Loughlin later regretted how much she smiled and that she wore a tan suit.
Bigger picture: Loughlin’s changed schedule comes as she awaits her trial in the college admissions scandal. News about the bribery scheme picked up in September when fellow celebrity Felicity Huffman was sentenced to 14 days in prison. Speculation emerged almost immediately about what Huffman’s sentence will mean for Loughlin.
University of Utah law professor Shima Baradaran Baughman told the Deseret News she expects Loughlin to face a tougher sentence than Huffman.
- “I think Lori Loughlin’s sentence will likely be higher,” she said. “Others in the case have received harsher sentences. Typically when defendants choose to go to trial, they are more likely to receive harsher sentences.”