Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Joe Giudice was
sentenced to 41 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas on
bankruptcy, mail and wire fraud charges today. He must also
pay $441,000 from one of the loans he illegally obtained,
along with a $10,000 fine.
His wife Teresa was also sentenced to 15 months imprisonment on fraud charge. She had been facing a possible term of 21 to 27 months
behind bars.
"I fully take responsibility for my actions," Teresa read from a
letter in court, per the New Jersey Record. " I deeply love my family...
My four daughters are my life."
'
' I stand here humiliated
before the court and my family and society," Joe Giudice on his own part, said nervously
before Salas delivered her sentence. "I disgraced many people, including
my wife and four daughters. I take full responsibility for my actions. I
promise to be a better person."
Joe Giudice's lawyer Miles Feinstein delivered a long
tribute on his client's behalf, asking Salas to consider leniency because Joe
took responsibility for the crimes in an attempt to exonerate his wife. "That
is the mark of a real man," he said.
He talked at length about the recent death of Joe's father
Frank, who died from a massive heart attack "in Joe's arms," and how
devastated his client has been since then. Though mostly stoic throughout the
hearing, at this point Joe Giudice took a tissue offered by his wife and wiped
away tears.
"Nobody can say Joe Giudice is not a good and
considerate son," Feinstein said. "He's a low-key and loving
individual. This is the real Joe. Not the 'Housewives' Joe."
He also read a letter from Joe's mother Filomena, who could
not be in court due to health problems. "My son needs a slap on the wrist,
not to be taken away from his family."
Salas later responded: "It's not a slap on your wrist
you need, Mr. Giudice. Uh-uh. You need to understand the laws of this country
and that they need to be respected."
Earlier in the hearing, Salas grew visibly angry with the
couple over what she called their "glaring" omissions and
inconsistences in their required pre-sentencing financial disclosure statement,
and that Feinstein couldn't confirm whether his client had actually paid the
$224,000 he owes in back taxes. She called it "a direct affront to the
court."
Just before delivering the sentence, which includes 12
months to run concurrently for failing to file his tax returns in 2004, Salas
told Joe: "I am not sure you respect the court. I am not sure you respect
our laws. And I am not sure you understand yet what you did."
But she also said she took into account the dozens of letters
written on his behalf that describe him as a loving and devoted husband and
father in not giving him the full recommended sentence of 46 months.
"A sentence under the top end of the range would be
appropriate," she said, "but I have to give you credit for the live
you have lived, at least to the people you have loved."
Before recessing, she told Joe Giudice she wished him luck.
"What you did in this case doesn't define you as a man ... You have a lot
to live for."
The original 41-count indictment carried the possibility of
dozens of years in prison for the couple, who have four children aged 13 to 5.
The extravagant exploits of the Montville couple were first
celebrated by Bravo's cameras; their financial freefall and legal woes were
then chronicled relentlessly by the news media.
Their troubles first surfaced in 2009, when the couple
declared bankruptcy, citing millions in debt and blaming the economy for
torpedoing Joe's real estate ventures.
The bankruptcy trustee representing their creditors
questioned the couple's failure to declare assets and income, including rental
properties and Teresa's "Real Housewives of New Jersey" true salary.
Joe later took the Fifth Amendment when questioned about the apparently flawed
bankruptcy filing, and they both abandoned their quest to get their debt
absolved in 2011. They still owe millions.
Joe Giudice was indicted in 2010 for using his brother's
identification to get a New Jersey driver's license because his own was
suspended due to a DUI, charges that carry more than 10 years in prison. And in
July 2013, federal prosecutors not only brought bankruptcy fraud charges
against the couple, but alleged a long-running conspiracy from their pre-fame
days to illegally obtain millions in mortgages, construction loans and lines of
credit using falsified W-2 forms and tax returns. Joe also failed to pay income
tax on nearly $1 million in earnings over five years, prosecutors alleged.
Real Housewives stars admit guilt Paul J. Fishman, United
States Attorney for New Jersey, hold a press conference outside of Federal
Court in Newark after Joe and Teresa Giudice, two of the stars of Bravo's
"Real Housewives of New Jersey" show, plead guilty to mortgage and
bankruptcy fraud charges. Video by Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger
Though they maintained their innocence — "We're good
people. I don't understand why this is happening to us," Teresa said in
her first post-indictment interview with Bravo's Andy Cohen — and claimed
prosecutors targeted them because they're famous, they eventually pleaded
guilty to one count of mail and wire fraud and three counts of bankruptcy
fraud, while Joe also pleaded guilty to one count of failing to file a tax
return.
The fraud charges together carry a maximum penalty of 35
years in prison and $1 million in fines, but under federal sentencing
guidelines, Joe's recommended sentence was 37 to 46 months; Teresa's, 27
months. Culled
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