Yeah, it feels more like they're getting punished for getting a discount and not giving the universities the bribe directly (likely because the actual 'fee' for getting your kid in is more than they could afford).
I was similarly bothered by this, and by the fact that nobody was worried that these students would fail out given that they cheated their way in.
Says a lot about the actual signalling value vs. educational value of the universities (and the lottery that is admissions).
On a tangential note, Lisa Brennan-Jobs' really great memoir "Small Fry" talks about her experience with this a bit. She dreamed of going to Harvard and during the admissions interview it didn't seem to be going anywhere until she quietly mentioned that her dad founded a computer company (the interviewer asked which one which prompted Lisa to say Apple at which point the dense interviewer figured out she was Steve Jobs' daughter) - and then the interviewer left the room for a time.
When the interviewer came back she was smiling and generally a lot more engaged. Lisa went to Harvard.
College admissions is an unfair system in a billion different ways, I hope ISAs like Lambda School end up replacing a lot of it for most people. Lori Loughlin and the actors cheated the system, but it's weird to me that they got in trouble because they didn't cheat in the right way.
You need to be rich enough to pay a large enough bribe to the school directly. If that fails, hopefully you have a famous father.
Otherwise it's a lottery.
[Edit]: For those arguing paying the school bribe is different because other students benefit, I'd argue there should be at least some transparency in this process. If admissions slots are for sale, let the public see the price (instead the schools pretend otherwise).