Today’s the day: ‘Real Housewives of New Jersey’ star Teresa Giudice has been released from Danbury Federal Correctional Institution in Connecticut after serving nearly a year in prison.
Teresa was initially sentenced to 15 months in prison by a federal judge after pleading guilty last year to four of the counts against her in a bankruptcy fraud and tax evasion investigation.
In 2013, Teresa and her husband, Joe, were indicted on 39 counts of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, bank fraud, making false statements on loan applications, and bankruptcy fraud. The charges included separate charges for Joe for failure to file federal income tax returns for tax years 2004 through 2008. As part of the plea agreement, Teresa pleaded guilty to four of the counts against her and Joe to five of the counts against him, including failure to file federal income tax returns. The pair had originally pleaded not guilty to the charges. If they have been found guilty on the original charges, the Guidices could have faced up to 50 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines.
As part of the plea, in addition to prison time, sentencing required that the couple make restitution to Wells Fargo (the target of the bank fraud) of $414,588 and pay fines. In order to make good on the restitution, Teresa’s wages will be garnished.
Additionally, while the Giudices managed to avoid foreclosure on their 10,000-square-foot Towaco mansion, they haven’t, however, settled up yet with Uncle Sam: in October, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) filed a $551,563 tax lien against the couple.
Teresa is expected to travel home to Montville, New Jersey after her release. She will be on home confinement until February 5. Her tell-all book, “Turning the Tables: From Housewife to Inmate and Back Again,” will be released shortly after, on February 9, 2016. She is also reportedly returning to Bravo where it’s expected that a post-release interview will be sold to television; cameras were banned from filming her actual release, according to the gossip site, TMZ.
Joe Giudice is expected to start his own prison sentence, which will run for 41 months, in March. The judge agreed to stagger the sentences in consideration of the pair’s four children.
