Entertainment

Joe Giudice calls Teresa before heading to Italy while he awaits a decision in deportation appeal


Real Housewives of New Jersey star Joe Giudice is on his way back to his country of birth, Italy.

The 47-year-old father of four is headed to Rome on a flight Friday evening, according to an insider who spoke to TMZ.

Last month Giudice requested a judge to be released from ICE custody and sent to Italy so he could ‘begin working’ and ‘contributing financially’ to his wife Teresa Giudice, 47, and their daughters, Gia, 18, Gabriella, 15, Milania, 14, and Audriana, 10, the outlet previously reported.

Joe is still awaiting a decision regarding his final deportation appeal. 

The latest: Real Housewives of New Jersey star Joe Giudice, 47, will be on his way back to Italy tonight. He was snapped at Watch What Happens Live in 2015 above

The latest: Real Housewives of New Jersey star Joe Giudice, 47, will be on his way back to Italy tonight. He was snapped at Watch What Happens Live in 2015 above

Joe’s attorney James Leonard told the appeals court that Joe hoped to ‘begin working’ while he was in Italy and ‘contributing financially’ to his wife.

He was able to have a phone conversation with Teresa and his eldest daughter Gia before departing for Rome.

‘Teresa is very happy and got very emotional after speaking to Joe today,’ said Leonard. 

‘He called both her and Gia from the plane. It’s bittersweet, everyone is happy he is out but no one is happy he is going to Italy. He belongs with his wife and four daughters.

‘I met with Joe face to face a week ago at the prison in Pennsylvania,’ he continued. ‘This is a man who loves his family and is not done fighting by any means. He wants to come home.’

Tough times: Joe and Teresa were seen headed to a New Jersey court in October of 2014

Chain effect: After he pleaded guilty to mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud charges in 2014, federal authorities ordered Joe's deportation due to 'a crime of moral turpitude' or 'aggravated felony'

Tough times: Joe and Teresa were seen headed to a New Jersey court in October of 2014

The reality star is from Sala Consilina, a town in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of southwestern Italy.

He was brought to the United States when he was one, but never applied to be a U.S. citizen.

After he pleaded guilty to mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud charges in 2014, federal authorities ordered his deportation due to ‘a crime of moral turpitude’ or ‘aggravated felony.’

Joe was initially scheduled to be taken to Italy after he concluded his 41-month prison sentence at Fort Dix, New Jersey’s Federal Correctional Institution this past March, and has remained in ICE custody at Pennsylvania’s Clinton County Correctional Center while his appeal is being heard.

Looking for work: Joe's lawyer says he will work in Italy to send money to his New Jersey-based family. The reality star was snapped in 2014 headed to court in his home state

Looking for work: Joe’s lawyer says he will work in Italy to send money to his New Jersey-based family. The reality star was snapped in 2014 headed to court in his home state 

Before news of Joe’s departure, an E! News insider told the outlet that basic plans had been made for where Joe will stay and what he will do once he touches down in Italy.

Joe’s wife Teresa opened up to the news outlet last month about the way the family has rallied together amid the tough times.

‘We’ve come a long way and I’m happy I have four beautiful daughters,’ she said while at an event in Los Angeles. ‘They’re strong and I’m happy to have them. I’m their rock, they’re my rock and I’m glad we have each other.’

Rally around the family: Teresa, snapped last week in LA, said of her daughters, 'I'm their rock, they're my rock and I'm glad we have each other'

Rally around the family: Teresa, snapped last week in LA, said of her daughters, ‘I’m their rock, they’re my rock and I’m glad we have each other’

Teresa, at the same event, told ET that ‘just being with [her] daughters’ was helping her amid the difficult time.

She said that Joe is looking at getting involved in mixed marital arts (MMA) fighting as a new career upon his release from custody.

An insider close to his family previously told People that Joe has been losing hope of being reunited with his family in the US.

‘These past few months in ICE [custody] have been harder for Joe than prison was. The conditions there are terrible,’ said the source. ‘He’s so close to freedom, yet so far away. Not being able to see his family, and knowing that he won’t be able to be back home with them, has really broken him.

He’s fighting, but he’s really resigned to the fact that he’ll be deported,’ they continued. ‘And losing that hope has left him bitter, angry, and unhappy. He’s a shell of who he used to be.’

His deportation case returns to court next month. 

Way back when: The couple was snapped in 2013 headed to a New Jersey court

Way back when: The couple was snapped in 2013 headed to a New Jersey court



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