Mossimo Giannulli, fashion designer and founder of what has been dubbed golf’s most popular hipster brand, GFore, will be sentenced to five months in prison after a federal judge accepted his plea deal with prosecutors on charges that he paid half a million dollars in bribes to get his two daughters into USC as rowing recruits, according to a story published Friday by the Associated Press.
A cooperating witness in the federal indictment told investigators that Giannulli falsified a profile to portray his daughter as a coxswain for the L.A. Marina Club in an effort to gain her admittance to the private university in Los Angeles. Giannulli sent a photo of his younger daughter on an indoor rowing machine that was used to create fake images of her non-existent rowing career.
Giannulli’s wife, actress Lori Loughlin who starred in the hit TV show “Full House”, is expected to be sentenced later Friday, according to the AP. She plead guilty under a deal with prosecutors that will have her serve two months in prison.
The plea deals also call for Giannulli to pay a fine of $250,000 and perform 250 hours of community service, while Loughlin will pay a fine of $150,000 fine and do 100 hours of community service.
“Operation Varsity Blues” involved almost 30 prominent parents who plead guilty in the case for getting their children into prestigious universities with rigged test scores and/or false athletic credentials.
Giannulli sold GFore to Richemont’s Peter Millar brand in January 2018, and as the Forecaddie noted then, left Giannulli in place to continue steering his company. Giannulli is a member of Bel-Air and Lakeside Country Clubs.