Full House actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli were sentenced on Friday to respective prison terms of two months and five months for participating in a vast US college admissions fraud scheme.

Loughlin, 56, choked up as she apologised to US District judge Nathaniel Gorton in Boston for the “awful decision” she made to help her daughters gain an “unfair advantage” in the college admissions process and get into their preferred school.

She and her husband were sentenced after they pleaded guilty in May to engaging in a fraud scheme aimed at securing spots for their daughters at the University of Southern California as fake athletic recruits.

They did so through what Gorton called a “blatant” scheme that involved wealthy parents, including the couple, conspiring with a California college admissions consultant to use bribery and fraud to secure their children’s admissions to top schools.

Loughlin, in her first public remarks about the case since her March 2019 arrest, said she had acted out of love for her daughters.

The actress, who became the public face of the scandal, said she understood her actions “helped exacerbate existing inequalities in society generally and the higher education system for specifically”.

“I am truly, profoundly and deeply sorry, and I need to face the consequences and make amends,” she said during a hearing. Gorton also ordered Loughlin and Giannulli to pay respective fines of $150,000 and $250,000.