Mossimo Giannulli has requested that he complete the remainder of his five-month sentence at home after spending more than 56 days in solitary confinement .
After serving more than 40 percent of his sentence in an isolated single cell due to coronavirus quarantine procedures, the 57-year-old fashion designer’s attorneys filed an emergency motion on Thursday.
In court documents, obtained by CNN, his lawyers said that solitary confinement has taken a ‘significant’ toll ‘on Mr. Giannulli’s mental, physical, and emotional well-being.’
Emergency motion: Mossimo Giannulli has requested that he complete the remainder of his five-month sentence at home after spending more than 56 days in solitary confinement; seen on April 3, 2019
Rather than being placed in a minimum security camp after a prison-required COVID-19 quarantine, he ‘was immediately placed in solitary confinement in a small cell at the adjacent medium security penitentiary, 24 hours per day with only three short 20 minute breaks per week,’ according to his legal team.
On Wednesday, 56 days after he entered Federal Correctional Institution Lompoc, his attorneys revealed he was ‘finally being transferred to the camp.’
During his solitary confinement, he was tested for COVID-19 every two weeks by the the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), but never was able to leave, despite his results always coming back negative ‘at least ten times.’
Struggling: After serving more than 40 percent of his sentence in an isolated single cell due to coronavirus quarantine procedures, the 57-year-old fashion designer’s attorneys filed an emergency motion on Thursday; seen in 2006
‘As a result BOP has determined that any individual in the facility must re-quarantine each time that occurs, despite the fact that individuals are not in contact with one another, and instead are confined to their cells 24 hours per day,’ the attorneys wrote.
Giannulli’s legal team pointed out that solitary confinement was ‘far more extreme’ than what the court had recommended in his sentencing.
‘Here, Mr. Giannulli spent nearly two months in solitary quarantine, which constitutes approximately 40% of his entire sentence,’ his lawyers argued.
Pushing through: In court documents, obtained by CNN , his lawyers said that solitary confinement has taken a ‘toll on Mr. Giannulli’s mental, physical, and emotional well-being has been significant’ (pictured with his wife Lori Loughlin)
The request comes just days after news broke that reports that Giannulli has been struggling in prison because of the seemingly endless solitary confinement.
Currently, there’s an outbreak of COVID-19 at USP Lompoc, where he is serving a five-month sentence for his role in the college admissions scandal.
He and wife Lori Loughlin, 56, were both handed jail terms in August after being convicted of fraud for paying William ‘Rick’ Singer $500,000 to get their daughters Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose into the University of Southern California.
Backfired: He and wife Lori Loughlin, 56, were both handed jail terms in August after being convicted of fraud for paying William ‘Rick’ Singer $500,000 to get their daughters Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose into the University of Southern California
Singer used false information to persuade admissions tutors that the pair were champion rowers, which gained both places at the prestigious California college.
Loughlin was released on December 28 after spending two months at FCI Dublin in Northern California, much of it on lockdown and without visitors.
Earlier this week, a family source told DailyMail.com, ‘He has spent the first month entirely alone, apart from when he’s allowed out to take a shower.’
‘Even though he was told he would be held in the minimum-security camp, he’s been put in the medium security jail which houses dangerous felons and has been kept in solitary,’ the insider stressed.
His wife Lori Loughlin was released on December 28 after spending two months at FCI Dublin in Northern California, much of it on lockdown and without visitors
The source added: ‘It’s doing huge damage to him mentally and physically. It’s wrong to do this to a completely non-violent offender.’
Giannulli’s adult son Gianni is from a previous marriage to Chris Giannulli. Gianni spoke out about his father’s treatment last month
Lompoc is currently dealing with a surge in COVID-19 cases, with 47 prisoners and seven staff members sick with the disease this week according to BOP figures.
Since the pandemic began, the Santa Barbara jail has seen a total of 648 positive cases and has introduced strict quarantine periods for new prisoners.
The men-only prison, which is comprised of a medium security penitentiary and a minimum security satellite camp, houses a total of 1,168 prisoners.
According to the source, the ongoing medical emergency means Giannulli can expect to spend at least another month alone.
The source said: ‘The solitary is going to continue for at least another 30 days but could be more. I don’t know how he’s going to cope with it.
‘His family is desperately worried about his mental health and it’s becoming increasingly hard for them as well.’
Giannulli still has just under four months of his sentence left to serve and is due to be released on April 17.
On release, he will have to pay a $250,000 fine and perform 250 hours of community service.
The couple were both handed jail terms in August after being convicted of fraud for paying William ‘Rick’ Singer $500,000 to get their daughters Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose into the University of Southern California. Their daughters are pictured with Giannulli’s son Gianni
Mossimo’s son, from a previous marriage, Gianni took to Instagram last month to talk about his father’s living conditions in prison
His wife Lori is now believed to be taking a break and keeping a low profile after being released from jail on December 28.
Friends say she wants to recuperate after spending two months living off grab bags containing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and being woken at 5am.
DailyMail.com previously reported how her prison experience was shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Fuller House actress left to sleep on a mat in FCI Dublin’s makeshift quarantine wing for the first two weeks before being moved to a cell.
Once in general population, she shared her space with three other women and had little to do beyond reading and making the occasional phone call.
Prisoners would usually be given jobs such as cooking in the kitchens or cleaning but work has been curtailed due to the pandemic, leaving the women with little to do.
Speaking on Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk podcast in early December, daughter Olivia Jade, 19, admitted she had not spoken to her mother during her time in jail and was not planning to visit.
In the event, Lori had no visitors during her stint in Dublin and spent most of it on lockdown.
She now has to pay a $150,000 fine and complete 100 hours of community service, and will be supervised by the parole system for two years.
The only public comments either Loughlin or Giannulli made about the case since their arrest last year came at their sentencing hearings in August.
Loughlin told the judge her actions ‘helped exacerbate existing inequalities in society’ and pledged to do everything in her power to use her experience as a ‘catalyst to do good.’
Lori Loughlin’s daughter Olivia Jade said she didn’t think there was anything wrong with college bribery because it was ‘what everyone does’ but now admits it’s wrong on Red Table Talk
Olivia Jade’s only comments came during her appearance on Red Table Talk, where she said she doesn’t want or deserve pity.
But she admitted she didn’t think there was anything wrong with college bribery, although she says she now realizes that it’s wrong and that her family ‘messed up’.
She said: ‘We messed up. I just want a second chance to be like, ‘I recognize I messed up. And for so long I wasn’t able to talk about this because of the legalities behind it.’
Of the nearly 60 parents, coaches and others charged in the case, about a dozen are still fighting the allegations.
The sentences for the parents who have pleaded so far in the case range from a couple weeks to nine months.