The parents who pleaded not guilty in the college admissions scandal are taking a big risk, legal analysts said.
There's a big risk in pleading not guilty in the case since the defendants are now facing up to 40 years in prison, legal analysts said.
While the parents could change their minds at a later date and shift to a guilty plea, they may have to settle for a harsher agreement than ones given to Huffman and the dozen others who took the deal already.
"If at some point, they should change their mind, the question is how much aggravation have they caused the government so far as well as looking at how they have finally come to grips with taking responsibility," Klieman said.
“Unlike state cases, in federal cases, the best deals are often the first ones offered. In this case, it appears that her decision to plead not guilty has already backfired. She is now facing additional charges that may significantly increase the likelihood—and length—of a prison term if she is convicted," Simons said.
“It seems unlikely at this point that Ms. Loughlin can avoid federal prison. That said, perhaps her attorneys can be creative with suggestions for huge fines, community service, strict probation and/or home confinement.”
Another analyst, Robert Bianchi, a former prosecutor, was even lower on Loughlin's fate.
He said the contrast between Huffman's taking responsibility for what she did and Loughlin claiming innocence, in addition to Huffman paying only $15,000 for a falsified SAT exam for her daughter while Loughlin and Giannulli allegedly paid $500,000 to get their daughters into the University of Southern California, will likely lead to trouble for Loughlin.
“Unlike Ms. Huffman, Ms. Loughlin by not accepting responsibility early, is ratcheting up her prison exposure. Under recent DOJ guideline changes, a defendant is now required to plead guilty to the ‘highest, most readily provable offense,'” Bianchi said. “The more the government secures additional serious charges in the grand jury, the more serious her exposure is. So, if she wants to later work the case out by way of plea, this alone will make that plea far more harsh than if she had accepted responsibility earlier.”