Real Housewives of New Jersey stars Joe "Giuseppe" and Teresa Giudice were sentenced for fraud and tax charges on Thursday. Joe will go to prison for 41 months and Teresa will be going away for 15 months, though both sentences are to be served separately.
Joe could have gone away for up to 46 months so this is a bit of a bullet dodged. Unfortunately for him, he could still be deported after serving prison time (he is an Italian citizen. As E! reports, "His attorney previously said that his client came to the U.S. as an infant and wasn't aware that he wasn't an American citizen." What.) If he's not deported, he will have two years of supervision after getting out.
"My four daughters are my life. I don't care about the TV show," Teresa tearfully told the judge minutes before he handed down his sentence. The prosecution had originally suggested a 21 month sentence, but the judge, after an agonizingly long wait, gave her 15 with a two year probation afterwards.
Just this morning, Teresa made headlines for arguing in court that she should be spared because she has to stay home and care for the couple's four children. Prosecutors weren't a fan of that, since the Giudice home was "built on fraudulent loans."
In court, the judge chastised the pair for being dishonest even when they were on trial, pointing out that they didn't list many major possessions (like cars) in their financial disclosure and didn't even file the forms on time. Though the pair owe millions of dollars to creditors, they also must pay $414,000 for back loans they got illegally, Joe owes a $10,000 fine and Teresa a $8,000 one.
Image via Mike Coppola/Getty
DISCUSSION
Maybe I'm wrong, but you cannot have a US passport and be a non-citizen, right? So if they traveled internationally (and I think they did for the show and probably for personal reasons too) wouldn't he have then known that he's not a US citizen?
Someone with knowledge help me out here.