Lori Loughlin to Plead Not Guilty to All Additional Charges in College Admissions Scandal

After being hit with additional conspiracy to commit federal program bribery charges in October, Lori Loughlin intends to continue to plead not guilty. In Touch was able to confirm the actress’ plans November 1 after she filed a waiver of appearance for arraignment for her November 20 court date. Declining to appear in court in Massachusetts herself, she will instead have her attorney enter the paperwork on her behalf. “Defendant Lori Loughlin hereby waives her right to appear in court for arraignment on the Third Superseding Indictment in the above-captioned matter,” explains the documents obtained by In Touch. “Defendant and her counsel affirm that Ms. Loughlin has received a copy of the Third Superseding Indictment and that Ms. Loughlin pleads not guilty to each of the counts against her.”

In March, the former Fuller House star was indicted for her alleged role in the college admissions scandal on charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. One month later, she was hit with another set of charges: conspiring to commit fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to use bribery to cheat on college entrance exams and to facilitate their children’s admission to selective colleges and universities as purported athletic recruits. She and husband Mossimo Giannulli declined to take a plead deal as a source reported in July that the couple was “actively engaged in their defense” and confident that “they’ll be exonerated.”

According to sources close to the couple, though, Lori may not be feeling too confident about her case as time passes. “[She] is absolutely terrified and extremely vulnerable,” an insider told Us Weekly. “The only hope is that she is acquitted or if she is convicted, the judge will realize the government has been completely overzealous and gives her a very light prison sentence. … The prosecution added the additional charge because the government realized their case was weak. The charge could have been filed with the others back in the spring.”

Brand and reputation management expert Eric Schiffer, the Chairman of Reputation Management Consultants, said much the same. “I think [remorse is] beginning to creep in, but largely out of fear and dread because she’s no longer in the bubble of lacking reality,” he told In Touch. “I think she’s now had to face the truth, and it’s scaring her straight. That will … level her down and humble her just through the process.”