It’s far from a certainty or anything like that, but could this be a way out for Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli??
A federal judge has responded to Loughlin’s legal team’s claim that the FBI told alleged college admissions scam artist Rick Singer to lie to the Fuller House star and her husband in an attempt to “entrap” them and “nail them at all costs.”
Related: Lori Supposedly Isn’t Worried About Those Fake Rowing Photos?! Hmmm…
The judge’s response to the motion was first obtained this weekend by People; on Friday afternoon, US District Judge Nathaniel Gordon came down hard on federal prosecutors over the controversial memo in question, which alleges Singer — the man at the center of the scandal, who was allegedly involved in all the college bribes — was “aggressively pressured” and “directly instructed” by federal agents to lie to Loughlin and Giannulli, in order to “elicit incriminating information from potential defendants.”
Wow… Gordon didn’t take too kindly to the claims made in the memo, calling the government’s allegedly heavy-handed tactics “serious and disturbing,” among other things. In part, the federal judge wrote of the government’s alleged conduct in this investigation (below):
“The court considers the allegations in Singer’s October notes to be serious and disturbing. While government agents are permitted to coach cooperating witnesses during the course of an investigation, they are not permitted to suborn the commission of a crime.”
Gordon has not yet decided whether he will dismiss the case against Loughlin and Giannulli because of this new information; he has asked prosecutors to respond to the allegations no later than May 1, however, so it appears as though updates may be afoot very soon.
Loughlin and Giannulli have long claimed as part of their defense that they were allegedly “hoodwinked” by Singer, so it’s interesting to see a coercion accusation play out in court now. It’s too soon to tell what’ll come of this, of course, but could it actually be a dismissal?! Could this whole thing actually be nearly over for the Fuller House star and her hubby?? Crazy!!!
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How are you reacting to this news about the alleged coercion and possible attempt to entrap here, Perezcious readers?! Sound like serious stuff, doesn’t it?? But will it give Lori and Mossimo a chance to actually walk away?? Can U believe it?!
Such a crazy time we live in… for so many reasons, honestly. Sound OFF with your take on this entirely new and ever-changing legal controversy down in the comments (below)…
[Image via Adriana M. Barraza/WENN]
The post Federal Judge In College Admissions Case Calls Lori Loughlin’s Coercion Allegations ‘Serious And Disturbing’ appeared first on Perez Hilton.