Lori Loughlin’s request to serve sentence at California prison approved

Lori Loughlin’s request to serve her two month-prison sentence at a low-security federal penitentiary just outside Los Angeles has been approved by a judge. 

The judge signed off on the Full House actress’ request to serve her sentence at a federal prison of her choice last week, according to court records. 

The 56-year-old star has asked to be put in the Victorville prison, which is the federal correctional facility closest to her Los Angeles home. 

Perhaps it was the offer of yoga sessions at the facility which helped the actress put forward her choice.

According to the facility’s inmate handbook, the camp also offers pilates and origami along with music classes in saxophone, accordion and ukulele. 

Other recreation programs include repairing bikes and learning how to drive a forklift.   

Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton signed off on the request on September 9 and will now recommend to the Federal Bureau of Prisons that Loughlin serve time at Victorville ‘if commensurate with the appropriate security level’, court records show. 

The final decision will be made by the Bureau of Prisons.

Federal prison records show that Loughlin already has a prisoner number assigned to her. 

Loughlin has been ordered to surrender to federal officials on November 19 to begin her two-month sentence after she and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, were convicted for their roles in the college bribery scandal. 

The Victorville prison, which is located about two hours northeast of Los Angeles, has a low security camp that houses about 300 female inmates. 

It is the same prison where Dance Moms star Abby Lee Miller served her sentence for bankruptcy fraud. 

The prison mostly houses criminals convicted of non-violent crimes.

According to the prison’s admissions handbook, lights come on at 5.30am on weekdays and are turned off nightly at 9.30pm. 

Inmates are allowed to have visitors between the hours of 8.30am and 3pm on weekends. 

Visiting at the prison, however, has been suspended indefinitely amid the COVID-19 outbreak.  

The federal facility has a medium-security prison located on the grounds that houses male inmates. 

That male facility is known from the HBO series Luck starring Dustin Hoffman. His character is released from the Victorville prison after a three year sentence in the first episode. 

Giannulli’s first-choice of prison is the Federal Correctional Institution in Lompoc which offers parenting classes – something which may help him repair his relationship with daughters Olivia and Jade who are reportedly devastated by the admissions scandal. 

It also has a gym and offers classes in oil painting, leatherwork, crocheting and ceramics. 

Giannulli has been sentenced to five months in prison and is also scheduled to report to federal officials by November 19.

Felicity Huffman, who served two weeks for her role in the bribery scandal, was approved to serve her sentence at a Club Fed minimum security women’s prison in northern California.

The Desperate Housewives star served time last September at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin. 

The facility has a reputation as one of America’s cushiest prisons.

Loughlin and her husband were sentenced last month for paying $500,000 in bribes to get their two daughters – Olivia and Isabella – into the University of Southern California. 

Loughlin, who gained fame for her role as the wholesome Aunt Becky in the sitcom Full House that ran from the late 1980s to mid-1990s, and Giannulli were among 50 people charged last year in the case federal prosecutors dubbed ‘Operation Varsity Blues,’ which uncovered hefty bribes to get undeserving kids into college with rigged test scores or fake athletic credentials. 

The couple had initially denied any wrongdoing and vowed to fight the charges before taking a plea deal.  

Nearly 30 parents have pleaded guilty while 10 are headed to trial. 

During her sentencing, Loughlin tearfully told the judge: ‘I made an awful decision. I went along with a plan to give my daughters an unfair advantage in the college admissions process and in doing so I ignored my intuition and allowed myself to be swayed from my moral compass.

‘I have great faith in God, and I believe in redemption and I will do everything in my power to redeem myself and use this experience as a catalyst to do good.’