Joe Giudice Begins Prison Sentence, Says Goodbye To Family

Real Housewives of New Jersey‘s Joe Giudice reported to a federal prison in New Jersey Wednesday to begin serving his sentence for tax fraud.

Joe Giudice Reports To Prison

The Giudice family attorney James J. Leonard Jr. confirmed that Giudice had surrendered himself to authorities, surrounded by several family members, including his wife Teresa Giudice.

“Joe Giudice surrendered himself to the Federal Correctional Institution at Fort Dix today at 12 p.m. to begin serving his sentence. His brother, his sister and several other members of the Giudice family, as well as myself, were present when he turned himself in to the prison, including [his wife] Teresa,” Leonard Jr. told ABC News. “It was obviously a very emotional day, but this is a very strong family with a tremendous support system and they will get through this, just as they did when Teresa was away.”

Joe and Teresa Guidice struck a plea deal in October 2014 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and to three separate counts of bankruptcy fraud. Joe was additionally charged with filing a 2004 tax return and withholding income information between 2004 and 2008, which he also pleaded guilty to in his plea deal. Teresa was sentenced to 15 months in prison, while Joe was sentenced to 41 months in prison. To serve the best interests of the couple’s three children, it was determined that the two could serve staggered prison sentences.

Teresa was released from the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Conn., back in December, serving 11 months of her 15-month sentence. Joe, like his wife, is hoping to shorten his sentence.

“I shouldn’t be in there longer than a year and a half,” Giudice told People. “You get good time, and now they have, with my kind of crime, [a system where] you are eligible for [sentence reduction] programs in there so I will do as many programs as I can.”

Even if Joe manages to cut down his time in prison, he will face an even bigger concern once he’s out. Since the Italian-born Joe is not a U.S. citizen, it’s possible that he could be deported upon his release. The reality TV star isn’t planning on getting too worked up about the possibility until it becomes a reality – and even then, he’s confident that his family will stick together.

“I’m not even worried about that as far as that goes. That, we’ll worry about when I get out,” Joe said, adding, “Of course she would,” when asked if Teresa would move with their daughters to Italy to be with him.