In court documents obtained by Us Weekly, a judge rejected the 57-year-old’s request without prejudice because he “has given no extraordinary or compelling reason why his current circumstances in the camp warrant immediate release.” Giannulli’s five-month sentence was an “appropriate” punishment to help “dissuade and deter others” who believe that “they can flout the law” due to their financial means, the judge wrote in his order.

“Modifying or reducing defendant’s sentence, in this case, would undercut any such deterrence,” he continued. “Accordingly, this court will deny [the] defendant’s motion for compassionate release. If extenuating circumstances occur in the future, the warden can intervene or defendant can file a renewed motion.”

The fashion designer reported to the Federal Correctional Institution in Lompoc, California, in November 2020. After spending 56 days at the facility, Us confirmed that Giannulli requested to complete the remainder of his sentence in home confinement.

According to legal documents obtained by Us, Giannulli’s attorney William Trach said that the businessman “was immediately placed in solitary confinement in a small cell” after arriving at the prison amid the COVID-19 crisis. Outside of his “three short 20-minute breaks per week,” Trach stated that his client has spent nearly 24 hours per day in the cell. He also allegedly was only “allowed to leave his cell to shower once every 3 days,” had “sporadic access to a telephone to contact his family” and ate “all of his meals alone in his cell.”

Giannulli was later transferred from solitary confinement to the prison’s minimum-security camp after spending an extended period in quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Us exclusively revealed last month that Giannulli is “having a rough time” while in prison. “He is allowed to call his daughters and son; those are the only good parts of his day,” an insider told Us in December 2020. “He tries to sound strong for his children, but because of fear of a COVID outbreak, he has been spending almost all his time in his cell, which has been very mentally taxing.”

Giannulli was arrested alongside his wife, Lori Loughlin, in March 2019 for participating in the college admissions scandal. They were accused of paying $500,000 in bribes to ensure their daughters Bella Giannulli, 22, and Olivia Jade Giannulli, 21, were admitted into the University of Southern California.

Though the longtime couple initially denied the allegations, they both pleaded guilty in May 2020. The Full House alum, 56, served her two-month sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California — a stint that that was completed in December 2020.

A source told Us that Loughlin spent “two weeks in isolation” before being released. “She’s thankful to put it behind her,” the insider continued. “There was a COVID outbreak in the prison, so it was a precaution and not a punishment.”

This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Dory Jackson