Teresa Giudice’s husband Joe granted release from ICE custody to return to Italy to work amid his deportation appeal
- RHONJ star will be released from ICE custody while appeal is pending
- Joe told the court that he hoped to work while he was in Italy and send money to his family
- The reality star was born in Saronno, Italy and brought to the United States when he was one, but never applied to be a U.S. citizen
- Joe pleaded guilty to mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud charges in 2014
Real Housewives of New Jersey star Joe Giudice will be released from ICE custody and return to Italy while his deportation situation gets hashed out in the courts.
Joe, 47, petitioned the federal court to send him to Italy while his appeal to be deported there – as result of his 2014 fraud conviction – is decided upon in the states, TMZ reported Thursday.
Joe’s attorney James Leonard told the appeals court that Joe hoped to ‘begin working’ while he was in Italy and ‘contributing financially’ to wife Teresa Giudice, 47, and their four daughters, Gia, 18, Gabriella, 15, Milania, 14, and Audriana, 10, the outlet previously reported.
The latest: Real Housewives of New Jersey star Joe Giudice, 47, will be released from ICE custody and return to Italy while his deportation situation gets hashed out in the courts. He was snapped in NYC in 2015
The reality star was born in Saronno, Italy and 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.
Travel plans for Joe’s transport to Italy were in the works Wednesday, as he was projected to touch down in Italy in a few weeks, an insider told E! News Thursday.
Tough times: Joe and Teresa were seen headed to a New Jersey court in October of 2014
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
A separate insider told the outlet that basic plans have been made for where Joe will stay and what he will do once he touches down in Italy.
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’
Way back when: The couple was snapped in 2013 headed to a New Jersey court
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.
The case returns to court next month.
