NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – The husband of one of New Jersey’s “Real Housewives” is heading to prison.
An attorney for Joe Giudice said Tuesday the husband of “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Teresa Giudice is expected to report to the Fort Dix federal prison on Wednesday to begin serving a 41-month sentence for bankruptcy fraud.
Teresa Guidice finished her 15-month sentence in December. A judge staggered their sentences so they could care for their four daughters.
The two pleaded guilty in 2014 and admitted they hid assets from bankruptcy creditors and submitted phony loan applications to get $5 million in mortgages and construction loans. Joe Giudice also admitted he didn’t pay about $200,000 in taxes.
Under their plea agreement, they were ordered to pay $414,000 in restitution.
Giudice has been living in the country illegally since he was an infant, and under federal immigration laws will be deported to Italy after completing his sentence. With time off for good behavior, that could come in about 35 months, attorney Miles Feinstein said.
“It was a pleasure representing Joe,” Feinstein said. “He was always great with me. The public doesn’t see the real side of his personality. He accepted responsibility and, more importantly, he is a man and the head of the family and did everything to exonerate his wife.”
Giudice’s federal sentence will run concurrent with an 18-month state sentence for unlawful use of an ID and impersonation, stemming from his 2014 guilty plea in an unrelated case. He was charged with using his brother’s identity to obtain a driver’s license while his own license was suspended for driving while intoxicated in 2010.