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There’s not necessarily a set formula for getting into a good college, but for most people, it requires sacrificing the majority of your teenage years in pursuit of good grades, engaging in admirable extracurricular activities, and correctly filling in a seemingly countless number of bubbles for the privilege of shouldering an amount of debt virtually no eighteen-year-old can comprehend.
However, there’s one other, slightly easier path more than a few people have taken to get to the same place: having parents who are filthy rich.
It’s not exactly a secret that having a parent endow a chair or slapping their last name on a building doesn’t exactly hurt your chances of getting into the institution of your choice. However, that’s not always an option for people who are only somewhat loaded.
As a result, some parents are forced to cheat the system a little more illegally than others, which heartbroken Fuller House and Hallmark Channel fans recently discovered the hard way when Lori Loughlin was one of over 40 people arrested in relation to a college admissions scandal stemming from a sting dubbed “Operation Varsity Blues.”
Over the past couple of months, we’ve watched the drama unfold as Loughlin fights off charges levied against her that she paid $500,000 to get her daughter Olivia Jade into USC despite the fact that her offspring was more concerned with becoming an influencer than getting a college degree (or even filling out an application, for that matter).
Loughlin might continue to maintain her innocence (or, as she apparently plans on arguing, her ignorance) but there’s at least one defendant who found herself facing charges who decided to channel Patrice O’Neal’s character on Arrested Development when authorities asked her if she’d broken the law.
According to ABC News, Felicity Huffman is planning on pleading guilty in relation to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud in a Boston court on Monday.
She is prepared to admit that she gave $15,000 to a fake charity that helped her daughter cheat on the SAT, and while she technically faces up to 20 years in prison, prosecutors are expected to pursue a reduced sentence based on her cooperation and previous record (or lack thereof).
However, as alluded to before, Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli officially pleaded not guilty last month and have set the stage for a trial that has the potential to be filled with as much drama as an episode of When Calls the Heart.
I’ve got my popcorn ready and waiting.