Just a week after fellow scandal headliner Felicity Huffman reported to prison for her light 14-day sentence, Lori Loughlin has amassed a fresh batch of bribery charges, per NBC News. The Justice Department announced that 11 of the 15 previously charged parents, including the Full House alum and former Hallmark Channel staple, have now been charged with allegedly “[conspiring] to commit federal program bribery by paying off employees of the University of Southern California to facilitate their children’s admission.” In exchange for bribes, the university employees were allegedly advised to admit the defendants’ children as athletic recruits—whether they possessed any actual athletic prowess or not—or, per the indictment, “as members of other favored admissions categories.”
This new development is, of course, to be considered alongside the original charges, which allege that she and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, aimed to pay out bribes totaling $500,000 in order to secure admission for their two daughters. Loughlin and the 10 other parents under additional scrutiny have all plead not guilty to the original accusations. The scheme—officially named “Operation Varsity Blues,” of all things—has already achieved Lifetime Original Movie status with actress Mia Kirshner standing in as the Loughlin prototype. With the way things are continuing to play out, maybe Lifetime should have waited just a little longer.