Actress Lori Loughlin, one of the famous faces in the college cheating scandal, is reportedly in a panic over the looming reality of dying in prison.

The 54-year-old Loughlin, who became famous as Aunt Becky on the long-running sitcom Full House and as a fixture on the Hallmark Channel, has apparently allowed her arrogance and sense of entitlement to keep her from taking the allegations against her seriously.

“She has been in complete denial and thought maybe she could skate by. She refused to accept any jail time and thought the DA was bluffing. She was adamant she wouldn’t do any jail time.”

“Lori is finally realizing just how serious this is,” the source continued. “She is seeing the light that she will do jail time and is freaking out.”

Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, were both arrested last month for allegedly paying $1,000,000 in bribe money to get their two daughters accepted into the University of Southern California (USC).

Loughlin’s unwillingness to take the allegations seriously caused her and her husband to reject a plea deal. And so, on Tuesday, both were indicted for fraud and money laundering and now face real prison time. Some sources say up to 40 years.

Along with a dozen others nabbed in the scandal, the plea deal in question was accepted by the second famous face in this scandal, Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman, who has agreed to plead guilty next month to paying $15,000 to help her daughter cheat on her SAT scores.

Prosecutors will reportedly seek a prison sentence of four to ten months, which means the 56-year-old Huffman will have the opportunity to put this behind her, enjoy the rest of her life with her family (she’s married to actor William H. Macy who has not been charged in the scandal), and maybe even rehabilitate her career.

On the other hand, if convicted, Loughlin and her husband (he’s 55) could die in prison.

The career fallout for Huffman has been minor. Netflix postponed the release of her new film Otherhood from April 26 to early August.

Loughlin, whose career was on fire, was fired by Netflix and Hallmark.

On top of regular appearances in the network’s popular television movies, Loughlin starred in the wholesome and beloved Hallmark series When Calls the Heart, which will now continue without her. The network was so desperate to erase Loughlin, episodes that had already been shot were edited and re-shot to remove her.

Lori Loughlin also appeared on Fuller House, Netflix’s popular Full House spin-off.

Loughlin’s denial in taking her predicament seriously seems like the perfect example of how Hollywood’s sense of entitlement can destroy a life. If what this source says is true, if Loughlin could be arrested, booked, charged, fired, publicly disgraced and still believe — even with legal counsel — that she was above it all, impervious to justice… Talk about your ego writing a check your reality cannot cash.

What might have been a four of five year prison sentence (I’m guessing) is now potentially a death sentence for both her and her husband.

And who would spend million dollars — a million dollars! — to get their already super-wealthy kids into USC?

Status and ego and arrogance, and now her career is forever destroyed, her reputation is in tatters, her family is imploding, and she could die in prison…

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