The fraud case against Teresa Giudice and her husband Joe is one step closer to being resolved. The stars of The Real Housewives of New Jersey pleaded guilty to several charges in court today as part of a plea deal. The original court date for the fraud trial was February. However, it got pushed back to April. Last month, the Giudices asked that their court date be moved up. It was reported last week that their new court date would be March 4th. Per US Weekly, the Giudices will be sentenced on July 8.
Teresa made a statement to US Weekly saying, “Today, I took responsibility for a series of mistakes I made several years ago. I have said throughout that I respect the legal process and thus I intend to address the court directly at sentencing. I will describe the choices I made, continue to take responsibility for my decisions, and express my remorse to Judge Salas and the public. I am heartbroken that this is affecting my family — especially my four young daughters, who mean more to me than anything in the world. Beyond this, I do not intend to speak specifically about the case outside of court, at the recommendation of my attorney and out of deference to the government and our legal system.”
Per TMZ, both Teresa and Joe will face jail time. Teresa could get up to 27 months in prison. Joe is facing up to 46 months of prison time. He is also facing deportation to Italy. Joe said he was born in Italy and came to the United States as a baby. He has not applied for citizenship, even after all the years he’s lived here.
It’s possible Teresa could get house arrest. In Touch is reporting Teresa will get no jail time with a plea agreement, but we will have to see what Judge Salas says at her sentencing. Teresa and Joe were indicted on 41 counts of fraud last summer. This includes mortgage and bankruptcy fraud.
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