Posted by Daniella Bucci.
The Real Housewives of NJ stars and Montville residents Joe and Teresa Giudice were each sentenced in Newark federal court to 41 months and 15 months in prison, respectively. The couple pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and three types of bankruptcy fraud. The conspiracy consisted of both Joe and Teresa agreeing to commit the fraud. This white collar offense is inchoate, that is, was complete when the agreement was made. The bankruptcy fraud consisted of the couple failing to disclose assets and used bankruptcy as a screen to get out of the debt they were buried in. It is not surprising that the couple, who each grew up in modest homes, landed in debt, as we were all exposed to their lavish lifestyle on Bravo TV where they tried to keep up with the Joneses.
The Giudice’s also admitted that they hid assets from bankruptcy creditors and submitted phony loan applications to get some $5 million in mortgages and construction loans. The couple had applied for these loans for over 7 or 8 years, resulting in the banks suffering major losses, one of which faced a $414,000 loss. On top of that, Joe Guidice also pleaded guilty to failing to file a tax return for 2004, and admitted that he didn’t file taxes on income of approximately $1 million between 2004 and 2008. Last but not least, the couple that once believed they were invincible failed to reveal $75,000 worth of assets on a probation form. Teresa, currently serving her time in Danbury Federal Prison in Connecticut, is set to be released on December 23rd of this year. Joe will be sentenced to his 41-month sentence in March.
Daniella is a graduate student in accounting at the Feliciano School of Business, Montclair State University.