Mossimo Giannulli has reportedly been kept in solitary confinement after reporting to the Federal Correctional Institution in Lompoc, CA on Nov. 19 to begin serving his five month prison sentence in connection with the college admissions bribery scandal. His adult son Gianni Giannulli — from the designer’s first marriage — claims his dad has spent the past 30 days since arriving in isolation, and that it is causing “mental and physical damage” to the 57-year-old. Gianni made the claims in a Dec. 17 Instagram stories post, which ABC News screen-grabbed from his private IG account.
Since his arrival, Mossimo has allegedly spent 30 days in isolation in Central California’s Lompoc, which is procedure for incoming inmates as part of strict COVID-19 protocols. Those were enacted in California prisons after widespread breakouts of the coronavirus infected staff and inmates in the spring of 2020.
“He has been locked in solitary confinement in a quarantine in the MEDIUM security prison in a cell for one full month today. Only let out every three days for a few moments to shower,” Gianni wrote on an IG stories slide, also noting that his dad was supposed to serve his time in a minimum security camp. HollywoodLife.com has reached out to Mossimo’s rep about his son’s claims.
“The mental and physical damage being done from such isolation and treatment is wrong,” Gianni continued, adding that his dad is facing 20 more days in isolation. Mossimo’s wife, actress Lori Loughlin, 56, spent the first two weeks of her two month prison sentence in quarantine at FCI Dublin, after reporting to the women’s facility outside of the San Francisco Bay Area on Oct. 30.
The couple are serving their sentences concurrently after pleading guilty for their part in the Operation Varsity Blues scandal. The former Full House star and her husband allegedly paid a college recruiter $500K to secure admission for their daughters Isabella, 22, and Olivia Jade, 21, to the University of Southern California as crew recruits, even though neither of the girls were student athletes.
Olivia Jade finally broke her silence about the scandal during a Dec. 8 episode of Jada Pinkett Smith‘s Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk. “What happened was wrong and I think that every single person in my family can be like, that was messed up, that was a big mistake,” the YouTube star admitted, before saying she deserves redemption. “But I think what’s so important to me is to learn from the mistake, not to now be shamed and punished and not given a second chance. Because I’m 21, I feel like I deserve a second chance to redeem myself, to show I’ve grown.”
As for her parents being locked up, “It’s been hard,” Olivia admitted. “I think for anybody, no matter what the situation is, you don’t want to see your parents go to prison, but also I think it’s necessary for us to move on and move forward.” The YouTuber added that she hadn’t spoken to either of her parents as of that time, “There’s a quarantine phase because of COVID, so I think that’s the reason, but I haven’t heard anything. I’m just waiting” Olivia told hosts Jada, Willow Smith, and Adrienne Banfield-Norris. She added, “I’m super close with my parents, especially my mom. She’s my best friend, so it’s definitely been hard not being able to talk to her. But I know she’s strong.”