NEWS

`Real Housewives’ star Teresa Guidice released from prison

Staff and wire reports

DANBURY, Conn. - One of New Jersey’s “Real Housewives” is set to be freed after serving nearly a year in prison for bankruptcy fraud.

Teresa, center left, and Joe Giudice, center right, from 'The Real Housewives of New Jersey,' leave federal court in Newark, N.J. on Tuesday. They pleaded guilty to several counts including bankruptcy fraud.

A lawyer for Teresa Giudice says she will travel home to Montville upon her release Wednesday from the Danbury Federal Correctional Institution in Connecticut. She will be on home confinement until Feb. 5. Her husband Joe Giudice is expected to start his own 41-month prison sentence in March. A federal judge staggered the couple’s sentences in deference to their four daughters.

The couple was accused last year of exaggerating income while applying for loans.

Teresa Giudice and her husband Joe, 43, pleaded guilty in March 2014 to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and three types of bankruptcy fraud. They admitted hiding assets from bankruptcy creditors and submitting phony loan applications to get some $5 million in mortgages and construction loans.Joe Giudice, 43, also pleaded guilty to failing to file a tax return for 2004.

Joe Giudice and Teresa Giudice attend the Fabellini Bottle Signing and Tasting at Costco on March 1, 2014 in Plainfield, New Jersey.

Teresa Giudice reported to Danbury, the minimum security prison for women that inspired the Netflix series Orange is the New Black, on Jan. 5 earlier this year for a 15-month sentence.

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

From left, Caroline Manzo, Dina Manzo, Teresa Giudice and Jacqueline Laurita of 'Real Housewives of New Jersey' attend the Glamour Magazine 2009 Women of the Year Awards at Carnegie Hall in New York.