Lori Loughlin is getting a taste of what life will be like if she has to serve any prison time.
A source close to the actress tells PEOPLE, “She has someone who is advising her what to do in case she loses her case and goes to prison. They then go on to add, “The advisor is there to help her learn the ropes.”
The 55-year-old faces up to 45 years in prison for her role in the college admission scandal, where documents were falsified to admit the children of millionaire socialites into prestigious colleges.
According to the complaint against them, Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, paid $500,000 to admissions consultant Rick Singer (and his nonprofit organization, Key Worldwide Foundation) to falsely designate their daughters Olivia Jade Giannulli, 20, and Isabella Rose Giannulli, 21, as recruits to the University of Southern California crew team. However, neither girl participated in the sport. The family allegedly went as far as taking photos of the girls on rowing equipment to make the scheme appear more believable.
Their charges include money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and honest services mail and wire fraud. Also, both Loughlin and Giannulli were each hit one count of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery. Both have pleaded not guilty to all counts.
“The whole point is to have someone tell her how to keep herself safe,” the source tells PEOPLE. “She needs to keep a low profile if she’s incarcerated. Obviously, she’s going to stand out, because of all the publicity and because she’s a star. She can’t do anything about that. But she doesn’t want to stand out because she’s so green that she does the wrong things.”
The source claims that the actress is using her prison consultant to learn how to navigate through prison as well as martial arts, if that is indeed her fate.
“Table manners are different; social interactions are different,” the source says. “Here on the outside, eye contact is a good thing. You meet someone and you shake their hands and stare them in the eyes. In prison, you might not do that. You don’t want to challenge someone.”
“Prison is a very different world than Hollywood, and Lori is just trying to be prepared,” says the source. “She’s preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best.”
