Laura Janke, a former assistant coach at the University of Southern California, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit racketeering for allegedly helping Olivia Jade Giannulli and other students fraudulently get into the college. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts announced on April 23 that Janke, 36, is currently cooperating with authorities in the case. Janke allegedly helped William “Rick” Singer, the ringleader in the Operation Varsity Blues college admissions scandal, create “falsified profiles” for wealthy kids into school based on nonexistent athletic ability — including Olivia Jade.
According to the documents, obtained by CNN, Janke allegedly received an email from Singer in July 2017 asking her to create a crew profile for Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli‘s daughter. “Ok sounds good,” Janke responded, according to the court documents. “Please send me the pertinent information and I will get started.” Prosecutors claim that Loughlin and Giannulli devised a plan to “present their younger daughter, falsely, as a crew coxswain for the L.A. Marina Club team, and [said Singer] requested that the Giannullis’s send an ‘Action Picture,’ asking a few days later for a picture on the ‘erg’ — or rowing machine, which Giannulli did a few days later.”
After Janke allegedly falsified Olivia Jade’s profile, and the beauty influencer was accepted into USC as a rowing recruit, the documents state that Loughlin and Giannulli allegedly paid USC’s senior associate athletic director, Donna Heinel, $50,000. The Fuller House star and fashion designer also allegedly gave Singer’s fake “charity” $200,000. Janke’s intention to plead guilty doesn’t look good for the couple, who have both pleaded not guilty to charges of mail fraud and money laundering conspiracy. If convicted, they could get 20 years in prison for each charge.