Federal Prosecutors Accuse Lori Loughlin Of Failing To Hand Over Evidence

Federal prosecutors that are involved in the college admissions scandal are ready to move things forward. However, they say that some parents charged in the case are withholding evidence that is valuable to the investigation. Former Full House star Lori Loughlin is among those who they say haven’t submitted their discovery materials, according to CNN.

Discovery materials involve information that should be available to both sides in the case. It could be anything from transcripts to emails, text messages and more. Bill McGlashan and Robert Zangrillo, two other individuals charged in this case, are the only ones whom prosecutors say have handed over discovery materials to the government, their latest statement reads.

“The government disagrees with the defendants’ assertion that it is premature to provide their own discovery. The government contends that it has complied with its discovery obligations and continues to comply with them. It is not premature to provide discovery, which they can later supplement, to the government as required by the rules.”

This comes after lawyers for Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, accused the government of withholding evidence that they believe would prove their innocence. Loughlin and Giannulli have been accused of paying Rick Singer, the mastermind of the bribery scheme, $500,000 to ensure their daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella, a spot at the University of Southern California. They’ve also been accused of falsely presenting their daughters as crew recruits, as The Inquisitr previously reported.

However, their legal team insists the $500,000 was intended as a donation to the school and not a bribe. This will be the primary way in which Loughlin and Giannulli may be able to avoid conviction. The legal team’s latest accusations against the government were pretty scathing, and they held nothing back.

“The Government appears to be concealing exculpatory evidence that helps show that both defendants believed all of the payments they made would go to USC itself — for legitimate, university-approved purposes — or to other legitimate charitable causes.”

They went on to deem the government not disclosing the aforementioned materials as “unacceptable,” calling upon the court to step in.

Loughlin and Giannulli’s list of charges just seems to continue to get longer. Thus far, the two are facing a plethora of charges, including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, honest services fraud, money laundering, and federal programs bribery.

Unlike other parents involved in the case, they have passed up plea deal opportunities and have opted instead to fight all charges.