Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice is a free woman.
After serving 11 months in the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, CT for tax fraud, Giudice is back in her Montville, NJ home, with her husband and four children. (It was originally reported that she would go to a halfway house.)
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Giudice, 43, had an initial sentence of 15 months, but was released after only 11 due to “good behaviour,” her lawyer, James Leonard, told NBC News New York. Leonard also emphasized that Giudice was not given preferential treatment in jail.
“She’s looking forward to coming home,” Leonard said on Monday. “She’s going to get to spend Christmas with her family and get back to her life.”
Here’s how Giudice and her lawyer looked when they left jail:
People magazine is also reporting that Giudice “gave herself a makeover” before exiting.
According to Leonard, one of the first comments she made upon leaving prison was, “I can’t believe this is happening.”
Giudice will be confined to her home and mandated to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet until Feb. 5. On Feb. 9, she is planning on releasing her tell-all memoir.
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Her husband, Joe Giudice, is heading to prison himself in March 2016, having also pleaded guilty to tax fraud; his sentence is nearly triple his wife’s — he’ll be behind bars for 41 months. (The judge in the case staggered their sentences to make it easier on their children.)
As for Teresa Giudice’s future on RHONJ, it has been reported by numerous magazines that she’ll be returning to the show in its new season.