'Real Housewives' couple face sentencing for fraud
By DAVID PORTER, Associated Press
Oct 2, 2014 10:52 AM CDT
"The Real Housewives of New Jersey" stars Giuseppe "Joe" Giudice, 43, left, and his wife, Teresa Giudice, 41, of Montville Township, N.J., walk toward Martin Luther King, Jr. Courthouse before a court appearance, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2014, in Newark, N.J. The Giudices are scheduled to be sentenced on federal...   (Associated Press)

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The married stars of the "Real Housewives of New Jersey" are due for a dose of unscripted reality.

Teresa and Giuseppe "Joe" Giudice arrived at the federal courthouse in Newark on Thursday morning for their sentencing on conspiracy and bankruptcy fraud charges. They walked into the courtroom holding hands.

U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas slammed them for not disclosing all their assets in a presentencing report. She said they didn't include all the recreational vehicles they own.

The couple had pleaded guilty in March, admitting they hid assets from bankruptcy creditors and submitted phony loan applications to get some $5 million in mortgages and construction loans.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, Joe Giudice faces a potential sentence of 37 to 46 months and Teresa Giudice could get 21 to 27 months, though the judge could deviate up or down from those ranges. Lawyers for Teresa Giudice, 42, remain hopeful that she may be spared a prison sentence and instead receive probation, noting the need to care for the couple's four young daughters.

Joe Giudice, an Italian citizen, could be deported after his prison term is completed. His attorney has said Giudice came to the U.S. as an infant and didn't know he wasn't an American citizen.

Both Giudices pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and three types of bankruptcy fraud. Joe Giudice, 43, also pleaded guilty to failing to file a tax return for 2004, though he acknowledged he didn't file taxes on income of approximately $1 million from 2004 to 2008.

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