Back in 2014, Teresa and Joe Giudice were each convicted on several counts of bankruptcy fraud.
While they both received prison sentences, the judge went easy on the Real Housewives of New Jersey stars in one respect:
He allowed them to serve their sentences successively so that they wouldn’t be locked up at the same time, and their four daughters wouldn’t be without parents.
So when Teresa was released from prison in December of 2015, she and Joe had just a few weeks together before he began his own 41-month stint behind bars.
With early release, Joe could be out in early 2019, but his troubles will be far from over.
Because he was born in Italy and never obtained his American citizenship, Giudice could be deported after he’s released from prison.
As a multiple felon, Giudice will have to jump through a lot of hoops in order to be permitted to stay in the US after his release.
And even then, one judge looking to make an example out of him is all out will take for Joe to be booted out of the country.
The Giudices remain hopeful that they’ll be able to remain stateside after Joe completes his sentence, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent tells Radar Online that Joe’s odds don’t look good:
“We have every intent to deport him,” says the ICE insider.
Needless to say, Joe’s future as a resident of th United States doesn’t sound too promising.
The situation has Teresa scrambling to keep her husband by her side, but it may be a case of too little, too late.
“Teresa has been scrambling to try get the deportation waived, and its not happening yet,” says a source close to the family.
An expert on these types of situations says there’s a chance that the Giudices will be able to keep Joe from being deported, but confirms the ICE agent’s opinion that the odds are against him:
“Immigration consequences of criminal convictions depend on the particular criminal statutes implicated and are very case specific,” says attorney Sophia Solovyova.
“Joe was convicted under a fraud statute,” Solovyova adds.
“Its a deportable offense, for which waivers are available only in very limited circumstances.”
Solovyova says that the question of whether or not Joe will be permitted to stay in the US will depend laregely on the specifics of how he came to America:
“Whether he is eligible to apply for a waiver of criminal inadmissibility depends on how he obtained his green card,” Solovyova said.
“If he applied for his green card while in the United States, he may be eligible. But if he came into the country with an immigrant visa, he would not be eligible.”
She adds:
“So, in short, he is deportable, but whether he has a case depends on his immigration history, personal circumstances and case law in third circuit.”
Sounds like this case could go either way.
But based on the Giudices’ legal luck up to this point, we’d say Teresa better start boning up on her Italian.
Watch The Real Housewives of New Jersey online to relive the Giudices tumultuous time together.