She'll be back in the Garden State sooner than expected! Several days after Teresa Giudice began her 15-month prison stint in Danbury, Conn., it was revealed Thursday, Jan. 8, that the Real Housewives of New Jersey star will get an early release date.
Giudice, 42, will be released from the Federal Correctional Institution before next Christmas. This means the RHONJ veteran will be released about two months (54 days to be exact) shy of her 15-month sentence.
The reality star's current attorneys previously explained the possibility of an early release to Us Weekly. "You do 85 percent of your term. So 85 percent for her is 12 and 3/4 months," Teresa's legal team told Us. "Then, you are eligible on that date for halfway house or home confinement for other 6 months or 10 percent of her sentence… She's aware of that."
The only limitation to the early release would be made in the case Teresa exhibits poor behavior. The star's legal team told Us that problematic inmates typically would be incarcerated for more than 85 percent of their expected sentence.
Giudice is expected to work during her time behind bars. "We spoke about things in general on the car ride [to the facility]," her lawyer James J. Leonard Jr. told Us this past week. "How things work in prison, about working and what job she can get. She was hoping they’d let her work in the kitchen." Find out more about Teresa's life in prison.
Leonard added that he has full confidence that the sometimes-confrontational Housewife will be able to handle the pressures of prison. "She's gonna be just fine," Leonard told Us. "Her focus is on her girls."
While Teresa serves her sentence, her husband Joe will remain at home with their four daughters — Gia, 14, Gabriella, 10, Milania, 8, and Audriana, 4 — before he begins his 41-month prison stint.
