🍝 Teresa Giudice pleaded guilty to fraud; restitution $414,588

She served 11 months of 15; then-husband Joe got 41 months and faced deportation. Their related bankruptcy case was dismissed in 2018. 📌

By , reality tv desk · Desk editor Kristaps Siliņš · · 2 min read

Teresa GiudiceCONVICTEDPhoto: Behind The Velvet Rope TV · CC BY 3.0

Photo: Behind The Velvet Rope TV, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Desaturated and cropped by MrScandal.

What we know

  • Teresa and Joe Giudice were charged in a 39-count federal indictment on July 29, 2013, covering conspiracy to commit mail, wire and bank fraud, making false statements on loan applications, and bankruptcy fraud.
  • In March 2014, both entered guilty pleas - to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and bankruptcy fraud, with Joe also admitting he failed to file a tax return - in a case prosecutors tied to about $5 million in fraudulent mortgage and construction loans.
  • On October 2, 2014, Teresa was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison and Joe to 41 months; the couple was ordered to pay $414,588 in restitution.
  • Teresa surrendered to FCI Danbury on January 5, 2015, and was released on December 23, 2015, after about 11 months.
  • The couple's original 2009 bankruptcy case was dismissed in June 2018, with the Giudices still owing restitution to the New Jersey Department of Treasury and the IRS.

The charges

On July 29, 2013, federal prosecutors charged Teresa Giudice and her then-husband Joe with a 39-count indictment covering conspiracy to commit mail, wire and bank fraud, making false statements on loan applications, and bankruptcy fraud, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman's office announced. Two weeks later, on August 14, 2013, the couple pleaded not guilty in federal court in Newark, New Jersey.

"I'm confident we'll have a really strong defense. I'm confident in her."

Teresa Giudice's attorney Henry Klingeman, to the Associated Press, August 2013

The plea and the sentence

The confidence didn't last. In March 2014, Teresa and Joe entered guilty pleas - to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and bankruptcy fraud, Joe also to failing to file a tax return - in a case prosecutors tied to about $5 million in fraudulent mortgage and construction loans. On October 2, 2014, Teresa was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison and Joe to 41 months.

The money and the time served

The court ordered the couple to pay $414,588 in restitution. Teresa surrendered to the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, on January 5, 2015, and was released on December 23, 2015, after roughly 11 months - short of the full 15-month term. Joe reported to prison in March 2016 to begin his own 41-month sentence, serving it at the Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institution in New Jersey.

The exit

An immigration court ruled in October 2018 that Joe, who never obtained U.S. citizenship despite moving to the U.S. as a child, was to be deported to Italy once his sentence ended. He completed the 41-month term at a federal prison in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, in March 2019, was transferred to U.S. immigration detention, and in October 2019 left for Italy to await his appeal rather than remain in detention. His third deportation appeal was denied in April 2020.

What's still open

The couple's original 2009 bankruptcy filing was dismissed in June 2018, with the Giudices still owing restitution to the New Jersey Department of Treasury and the IRS, according to court documents reported by E! News and NorthJersey.com.

Quick quiz · 3 questions

  1. On the record or still rumour?Teresa served from January 5, 2015, to December 23, 2015; the couple's original 2009 bankruptcy case was dismissed in June 2018.
  2. On the record or still rumour?The exact split between Teresa's and Joe's individual conduct within the roughly $5 million in fraudulent loans prosecutors described.
  3. Which year?Sentencing of Teresa and Joe Giudice, with $414,588 restitution order

More games on the record: Price Tag · Timeline

By the numbers

  • 15 mofrom first to latest entry on recordJul 2013 to Oct 2014, 4 dated entries in the file
  • 7receipts behind this story5 news reports, 2 public records, 2013 to 2020

Counted by MrScandal from the receipts, the Files and our rankings.

Earlier on file: Biggest celebrity frauds ranked: Ebbers's $11B WorldCom first

The Teresa Giudice file

Last entry Oct 2, 2014
  1. Ruled

    Sentencing of Teresa and Joe Giudice, with $414,588 restitution order This story

  2. Admitted

    Pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and bankruptcy fraud (Joe Giudice also to failing to file a tax return) This story

  3. Admitted

    Teresa Giudice and Joe Giudice pleaded guilty to financial fraud, per Fox News. Biggest celebrity frauds ranked: Ebbers's $11B WorldCom first

  4. Filed

    39-count federal indictment charging conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, bank fraud, false statements on loan applications and bankruptcy fraud This story

On file: The Teresa Giudice file

The Ledger

On the record

  • Teresa and Joe Giudice pleaded guilty in March 2014 to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and bankruptcy fraud, following a 39-count indictment returned in July 2013.
  • Teresa was sentenced to 15 months, Joe to 41 months, and the couple was ordered to pay $414,588 in restitution.
  • Teresa served from January 5, 2015, to December 23, 2015; the couple's original 2009 bankruptcy case was dismissed in June 2018.

Still rumour

  • How much of the $414,588, or the separate debt owed to the New Jersey treasury and IRS, has actually been paid.
  • The exact split between Teresa's and Joe's individual conduct within the roughly $5 million in fraudulent loans prosecutors described.

That's the record. The rest is rumour. - MissDrama

Next on the docket

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