Hey y’all!
Two of my favorite things in the whole wide world have collided! The Real Housewives franchise on Bravo TV and the law! Real Housewife of New Jersey Teresa Giudice and her hubby Giuseppe “Joe” Giudice were charged with 41 counts of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, bank fraud, making false statements on loan applications and bankruptcy fraud back in 2013 and yesterday they were both sentenced.
First, “Juicy” Joe.
He received 41 months in a federal prison, has to pay $414,588.90 in restitution, plus a $10,000 fine, and has to complete an alcohol treatment program. It’s great that he has to do the alcohol program, but I think it is a little bit too late for that idea. Back in 2010, good ol’ Joe flipped his truck in a DWI crash but never really got punished for it. After losing his license in that crash, he posed as his brother to get a new driver’s license, and it’s that crime for which he might be deported to Italy — the country of which he is a citizen — after getting out of prison.
Teresa got 15 months in jail; prosecutors argued against house arrest because it would be a little fucked up for her to chill out in the house she basically defrauded others in order to build. The upside is the judge is allowing Teresa and Joe to go at separate times so that their four daughters do not suffer too much. Teresa will serve first and I imagine she probably won’t stay in for the whole 15 months. Think Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, or Nicole Richie jail time. Which makes me wonder if jails are sexist because these women were in jail for short periods of time but DMX and O.J. Simpson were not let out early (but we all know why O.J. is really in jail).
Naturally, Joe and Teresa will sit down and do their first interview after the sentencing with Andy Cohen of Bravo TV. Andy is the glue that holds all of the hot mess shows together on that network and he does a great job!
I am a huge fan of all things Real Housewives. You can get on that hot mess express and ride it around for an hour, hop off and go about your life until that next episode comes on. Originally when I started watching RHONJ I was not too fond of Teresa until she flipped that table.
Courtesy of Giphy.
Joe didn’t seem to be around much at first, but that was okay because there was enough drama to fill more hours than viewers could stand. Slowly but surely over the past few seasons Joe has stepped up his game in showing his face. I HATED Joe a season or two back when he basically made it seem like a phone call he received was from a mistress and then proceeded to call his wife a bitch. Tool bag!
But this season, if you’ve been watching, you get to see a better side of Joe and he has somehow turned into a decent guy. I can tell you one thing, even though I may have never been fond of him or how he treated Teresa he has always seemed to be a good dad!
Teresa and Joe have four little girls; Gia, Milania, Gabriella, and Audriana. Milania stole the show the moment that camera turned to her. She is one opinionated, mouthy kid but you gotta love her!
Courtesy of Tumblr.
What blows my mind about this whole situation is that there were 41 counts and all of this spanned a four-year time period. It is great to know that prosecutors were able to catch them and make them pay for their choices but I wonder how much of that is because they decided to join the Real Housewives of New Jersey. If the spotlight had not been on them would they have perhaps gotten away with it or even gone on to commit more fraud?
Our judicial system works, but does it work better when celebrities are involved?
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Allison Dawson (@AllyD528) Born in Germany, raised in Mississippi and Texas. Graduate of Texas Tech University and Arizona State University. Currently dedicating her life to studying for the LSAT. Twitter junkie. Conservative.
Featured image courtesy of [Jennifer Marie Puglia via Flickr]