The fake athletic profile that portrayed Olivia Jade Giannulli as a gold medal-winning crew coxswain and helped her gain admission to USC was included in a legal filing by prosecutors Friday in the college admissions scam.
The profile lists Giannulli’s skill set as “awareness, organization, direction and steering” and says that “she is highly talented and has been successful in both men’s and women’s boats.” The profile also says she won two gold medals in the San Diego Crew Classic in 2014 and 2016, and it says she participated in Boston’s Head of the Charles regatta in 2016 and 2017.
But those accolades are false, and she did not actually participate in crew competitively, prosecutors have said. They say that the athletic profile was created by scam mastermind Rick Singer and his associates as part of a scheme to get Giannulli into USC as a fake athletic recruit, a strategy that he called the “side door.”
Giannulli’s parents, actress Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, have been charged with three conspiracy counts for allegedly paying $500,000 in bribes to get their two daughters into USC.
Singer has pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and other charges. Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The rowing profile was included in a filing that countered Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli’s argument that the government is withholding evidence in the case. Former USC athletics official Donna Heinel presented this profile to USC’s athletics subcommittee on November 2, 2017, and the subcommittee approved her conditional admission, according to legal filings.
Olivia Jade Giannulli’s name is redacted on the document, but prosecutors reference the Giannullis’ younger daughter within the larger filing. The profile also references her sister who was already on USC’s roster, Isabella Giannulli.
Prior to the revelations in the scam, Olivia Jade was a social media influencer with over a million followers on Instagram and YouTube. Brands that had partnered with her, including Hewlett Packard and Sephora, distanced themselves from her after the charges were announced. She recently returned to posting on YouTube after a 9-month absence.
Prosecutors have not accused either daughter of criminal wrongdoing. Neither daughter is currently enrolled at USC.
According to the original criminal complaint, Mossimo Giannulli emailed to Singer pictures of his daughters posing on indoor rowing machines. Those photos were then used to create the athletic profiles, the complaint states, although those photos were not included in the latest filing.
The government and the defendants have filed several motions and responses recently as the couple asks for additional FBI interviews the government says it isn’t required to release.
Despite the Giannullis continued insistence that USC was aware of the scheme, the government argued against that.
“No witness has suggested that USC condoned this scheme, tacitly or otherwise. Nor is the government in possession of any evidence suggesting that anyone at USC, save (Donna) Heinel, was aware the Giannulli children were admitted in exchange for money, or that they were not the athletes they purported to be,” prosecutors said.
Heinel, a former USC athletics official, has pleaded not guilty for her alleged role in the scam. Her attorney has not responded to CNN’s multiple requests for comment.
Prosecutors say an additional interview took place in December, which is why it was only disclosed recently.
“The government has broad powers, but they do not include mental telepathy or time travel. The government cannot disclose witness statements before the witnesses make them,” prosecutors wrote in the filing.
