Felicity Huffman received her sentence for her role in the college bribery scandal Friday, and it immediately raised questions on social media about Lori Loughlin’s fate.
Judge Indira Talwani sentenced Huffman to 14 days in prison with a $30,000 fine. Huffman will also have one year of supervised release and 250 hours of community service.
All eyes will now turn to Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, who were also celebrity parents accused in the college admissions scandal. Loughlin and Giannulli are accused of paying $500,000 in bribes so that their daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella Giannulli, would be crew team recruits for the University of Southern California.
Loughlin faces a potential 40-year sentence.
Following Huffman’s sentencing, social media went wild with speculation about what could happen to Loughlin, who is the only celebrity mother left in the scandal, according to Yahoo Entertainment,
“The conversation is also very largely focused on Loughlin, who did not admit her guilt, and what should and could happen to her,” according to Yahoo.
Several social media users said Loughlin should be scared by Huffman’s sentencing since she pleaded guilty and worked with prosecutors.
Before her sentencing, experts wondered what Huffman’s sentencing will mean for Loughlin. According to the Deseret News, experts posited that Loughlin could change her plea based on Huffman’s sentence.
“Obviously if she sees other parents aren’t receiving jail time on their pleas … if I was Lori Loughlin, it would definitely encourage me to plead guilty — if that plea deal is even still open to her,” Adam Citron, a former New York prosecutor who practices at Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, told Business Insider.
Citron said it’s unlikely she’ll receive 40 years in prison.
But, he said, Loughlin’s trial could be problematic.
“I do think that there’s something to be said about stepping up to the plate and admitting your guilt and showing remorse and showing accountability,” he told Insider. “I think that if she fights it and ultimately there is a guilty verdict, she’s expended the court’s time, the government’s time, and that’s all considered during sentencing. Courts want to see the defendant admit culpability and acknowledge culpability.”
Loughlin’s legal team will appear in court Oct. 2. She is not required to attend,