Money laundering added to list of accusations against Lori Loughlin

Federal prosecutors added money laundering to the list of accusations against actress Lori Loughlin, her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli, and 14 other parents Tuesday in the college admissions bribery case, signaling an escalation against parents who are fighting the allegations instead of pleading guilty.

Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli leaves leaving a Boston courthouse where they appeared in front of a judge, facing charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and mail fraud, allegedly connected to a nationwide college entrance exam cheating scandal. [Photo: IC]

Loughlin, the star of TV's "Full House," and Giannulli are among 33 prominent parents accused of participating in a scheme that involved rigging college entrance exams and bribing coaches at top universities.

Loughlin and Giannulli are accused of paying $500-thousand in bribes to get their daughters into the University of Southern California as crew team recruits, even though neither of them played the sport.

The new charges come a day after "Desperate Housewives'' actress Felicity Huffman, 12 other parents and a coach agreed to plead guilty. Prosecutors say they will seek a prison sentence that's on the low end of between four and 10 months for Huffman. In her first public comments since her arrest, Huffman took responsibility for her actions and said she would accept the consequences.

(Story includes material sourced from AP)