College admissions scandal: Lori Loughlin, husband plead not guilty

Actress Lori Loughlin has entered a plea of not guilty in the scandal being described as the biggest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the U.S. Justice Department.

The judge accepted her plea on Monday along with similar pleas from her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, and nine other parents, ABC News learned.

Earlier in the day Loughlin filed a document with the U.S. District Court in Boston in which she asked the court to enter the not guilty plea on her behalf. She did this while asserting a right to waive her appearance at an arraignment, ABC News reports. Giannulli filed an identical document.

Loughlin and Giannulli were among the defendants named with new charges last week. They were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, in addition to the previously charged count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The additional charges could increase any prison time for these defendants.

The scandal known as Operation Varsity Blues allegedly involved William "Rick" Singer arranging for students to get into elite universities through a variety of methods including bribing SAT and ACT exam administrators and bribing university athletic coaches and administrators to "recruit" students who did not participate in the sport.

Loughlin and Giannulli are charged with paying $500,000 in bribes to get their daughters admitted to the University of Southern California as crew recruits, even though neither is a rower.

Several other parents named in the scandal have entered not guilty pleas. So far 13 of the defendants, including actress Felicity Huffman, have agreed to plead guilty.

The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this report.