As you know, Teresa Giudice was sentenced on Thursday to 15 months in prison stemming from dozens of counts of federal fraud including bankruptcy fraud, wire fraud and money fraud. Her husband, Joe Giudice, received 41 months. The judge has allowed the Giudices to stagger their time behind bars so that one parent can stay with their four daughters. Teresa is required to report to prison on January 5th. Also, Teresa and Joe’s bankruptcy debt was not discharged, meaning that they remain responsible for the over $13 million they defrauded from creditors.
On Friday, Teresa and Joe sat down with Andy Cohen to tape a very special post-sentencing episode of Watch What Happens Live. That’s set to air in two parts starting tonight.
The RHONJ reunion sit-down was originally scheduled to tape on Friday, but was postponed until Sunday for Teresa’s sake. Apparently Teresa did not fare well at the reunion taping, which lasted eight hours. She is said to have been either three or four hours late to the taping (depending on which reports you believe) and to have left the set several times. An insider told Radar Online that Teresa insisted that her marriage to Joe is not over (as has been widely reported), that she’s “still in denial” and that she “did her best to dodge all questions about the prison sentence,” at times storming off set. It all sounds typical of her. Here’s more.
Teresa — clad in a sequin cream colored strapless glittery ensemble — “showed up three hours late,” the insider said, adding that “once taping began … the waterworks started.”
Cohen — as he did in his sit-down interview with Teresa taped on Friday for Monday night’s Watch What Happens Live — asked her all the tough questions about how she feels about the prison sentences she and her husband Joe were sentenced to last week, the insider said.
Teresa denied that her marriage to Joe was over because of his almost 5-year prison sentence (and threat of being deported to Italy) but refused to elaborate past her initial statement, the insider said.
“Teresa is absolutely still in denial, and did her best to dodge all questions about the prison sentence,” the insider said. “She would get very emotional and storm off the set, and come back a few minutes later.”
Meanwhile, none of her other co-stars jumped to her defense as Andy kept pounding away on the questions, according to the insider.
People is also covering this story, and they quote a source who tells them that Teresa is “not doing well,” but that her castmates are “being a little more cordial” because they appreciate how serious her situation is. We’ll see. I’m sure there will be plenty of drama as usual.
There’s speculation as to how much of Teresa’s lead up to prison will be covered on RHONJ. Reality Tea has a rundown of the possible ways that her incarceration might be handled on the show. To quote Reality Tea, Andy Cohen is “going to milk this for all it’s worth.” As sad as it is for their kids, Teresa and Joe’s jail sentence is TV gold.
She’s been in denial the entire time. It’s going to be a sad day for her when she puts on that orange jumpsuit and the bars slam behind her.
I…almost…feel…sorry for her.
Me too… almost…
Here is why I don’t. She was still pulling shady stuff with her finances right up until the sentencing. She probably could have avoided jail time and got house arrest, but because these two are so dumb, the judge had no choice but to give her time in prison. Which she totally deserves.
I feel bad for the kids though.
Exactly. I’m just happy to see that being a “celebrity” doesn’t always make you above the law. 13 million dollars?
It’s insane that they are so stupid. How did they expect to pull that off? Joe is an idiot. And Teresa? Come on.
I imagine she thought she could use the kids (‘they are my life’) as leverage no matter what, so why bother to do what the court asked. I think she thought she would get house arrest at most. I’m glad it backfired on her and haven’t an ounce of pity for her.
I think a lot of people don’t realize how many small business owners were owed payment for the contracting work they did and they cannot just ‘eat the loss’ it will bankrupt them. They hurt many working class people. My in-laws run a small drywalling company and when a client is late playing they are all freaking out because they cannot afford to not get paid.
I feel for her kids, and I’m glad the prison sentences are staggered. Besides that, I have no sympathy for either of these two greedy nut jobs.
Same here.
They are thieves and they were caught. They were dishonest up to the bitter end and it sounds like that is what ultimately landed Teresa a prison sentence.
Low forehead having grifters gon’ grift
Yeah, that hairline is somewhat “missing link.”
I should think these two simian looking asshats would want to spend time with their children, instead of doing the pimp stroll on a stupid reality show reunion.
How many convicted couples with children get to stagger their sentences for the kids sake?!
Zero sympathy for either of these grifters.
Though I think they should have never done any reality TV ever, I can understand why they fulfilled their contractual obligations with Bravo by appearing on the reunion show & WWHL. They need the money and the last thing they want is another lawsuit for return of money.
I feel bad for the girls in this situation. They’re the ones who are paying the price for their crooked parents. I’m not sure if it’s been discussed yet, but the reason the judge got annoyed with them is because they’re still not forthcoming about anything. If they’re truly remorseful they would’ve layed all their cards out and been humbled. They don’t get it. They’re frauds, crooks and absolute scum. I wished the judge would have really thrown the book at them. Absolutely no sympathy for those two.
And their excuse for their continuing refusal to disclose all of their financial assets (blamed the accountant) pissed me off too. It’s not like they don’t know their lawyer’s phone number and should have taken the responsibility of reporting it to him. Instead, they keep on with putting the responsibility on others.
I saw the clip on WWHLs video page of the upcoming interview. Teresa blamed her predicament on others giving her bad contracts to sign. She says she should have had a “contract lawyer” read them to her beforehand. Please. She wanted LOTS AND LOTS of money and she knew she’d get it easily by signing. I’m thinking she didn’t want a lawyer during those times because they would have told her not to sign them.
It really is hard to keep your spirits up once you’ve been sentenced for committing fraud.
I do feel the most for the kids. But Teresa and Joe got what they deserved. I feel that the judge was truly lenient on Teresa but ONLY because of their daughters.
I know Melania is a handful, but she’s my favorite. So cute. But when she is old enough to start dating… Oh boy. And Gia has been so sweet lately, I’m so glad that she seems to actually be turning out alright. It’s sad to see her talking to Teresa, who clearly sees that her daughter is way smarter and more reasonable than her. It’s also sad how Joe is suddenly all about his girls and his chickens.
honestly, i’m not sure why anyone thinks she’s going to say anything beyond what her lawyer has ok’d. i’m not defending what she did, but she shouldn’t be expected to put herself in a worse situation (legally speaking) for the sake of reality tv. i’m not sure it’s denial (as in, she doesn’t comprehend reality) so much as it’s her lawyer telling her to not say a damn thing on national tv.
From what I understand, this case is done – she would have been advised not to talk about it while the case was open (even though she did in fact still talk about it) but at this point she can probably say anything.
Why would she need a lawyer now? She’s been convicted and she can’t appeal a plea deal.
b/c if i had to guess, they have other skeletons in their closet.
Please. I remember when they were indicted and went on WWHL to defend themselves. Theresa actually sat there and said with a straight face that the family “never lived outside their means.” Uh, then why are you in bankruptcy?
If she really wasn’t expected jail, her lawyer did not prepare her well. The government loves to make examples of white-collar criminals, and she did herself no favors with the judge. The judge admonished her for showing up to court in designer clothes and carrying a thousand-dollar bag, all of which the judge noted were not claimed on their pre-sentencing asset forms. She completely did this to herself. It blows my mind how anyone can feel really bad for her now.
Yes! @Sam- i agree. i remember on WWHL they were claiming they’re innocent and will be cleared. PSH. so much for that.
Maybe she can get a stint on Mob Wives, after she gets out of the slammer?
LOL!!!!!!!!!!
you win! LOL
Boy, be careful watch you ask for cause they’re sure getting it now.
I feel sorry for the girls because they are the innocents in all this. How much of the 15 months is she really going to spend in prison – 6 or 7 months? Also, it’s not like she’s going to be in the general population and will probably get special treatment.
From what I understand she will serve most of her 15 months of federal prison time. There is time off for good behavior but not that much. As for the special treatment… I have no idea. Seems to me she is already getting special treatment by being able to be with her kids until after the holidays and having the sentences staggered.
It’s a federal crime which means she will serve the bulk of her sentence. It’s not like jail where you get tons of time shaved off for good behavior and overcrowding. So she should be doing a year or close to it.
As per Federal sentencing guidelines, she will serve a minimum of 85% of her sentencing. She’ll be in about a year. And, no special treatment.
I guess we are supposed to feel sorry for her. But….I…don’t. When you commit a crime, especially one that takes place over a long period of time, you have to consider the consequences.
What I absolutely cannot get over is the fact that they spent a bunch of money on furniture, cars, etc. in the months leading up to their sentencing. These two people have no respect for the law, themselves, or societal norms in general. Disgraceful.
Rather than storm off the set and dodge questions, Teresa had the ability to say that her lawyer wants her to zip it. And she certainly CAN discuss these charges because double jeopardy is in play–she can’t be tried on them ever again.
My question is: when will the feds start demanding liquidation of their assets? Would this leave the family homeless? That mansion represents a big chunk of change.
The prison sentence that she was handed would make anyone upset and sad… I don’t blame her for that. She probably didn’t want to be embarrassed any further on national TV, so that’s why she was probably late.
On the flip side, with that said, we all know the saying… if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.
I 100% believe she will receive her own spinoff of when Joe is in prison on her raising the girls on her own and building herself back up.