ImmigrationProf Blog

Friday, October 3, 2014

Real Housewives of New Jersey Sentenced to Prison, Joe Guidice may be Deported

The married stars of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” face prison time. Teresa Giudice was sentenced yesterday in federal court to 15 months in prison on conspiracy and bankruptcy charges while her husband, Giuseppe “Joe” Giudice, was sentenced to 41 months. Having come to fame with a hit television show, the couple was ordered to pay $414,000 in restitution. The court agreed to stagger the Giudices’ sentences so one parent can be home with their four children while the other is in prison. Teresa Giudice will serve her sentence first because, as has been reported, Joe Giudice is not a U.S. citizen -- he is an immigrant from Italy -- and faces possible deportation to Italy when he’s released from prison.

Last March, Joe's lawyer told Us Weekly that deportation is a possible punishment for Joe. "Joe could be deported," says Joe's attorney. "I think it would be a tremendous injustice, given that he's been here since he was one year old. His parents and brothers have been naturalized, and Teresa and the children are citizens. Joe not getting U.S. citizenship, just slipped through the cracks." So why isn't Joe a U.S. citizen? "He could have gotten it easily," says his lawyer. "He thought he was a citizen, as did everyone else. The fact that he wasn't, was brought up in the state case. He didn’t know up until then."