Amber Dunston offers to represent Giudice and wants to see him released from prison
'Real Housewives' star Joe Giudice hires new lawyer for deportation case, wants to rejoin daughters in US
Joe Giudice, the husband of “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Teresa Giudice, has hired a new lawyer who she hopes will persuade the judge who sent him to prison for 41 months to allow him to rejoin his children in the US before he returns to Italy in March 2017.
Giudice was arrested on fraud charges in 2014 and was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison in March. On Tuesday, he announced a new plea deal that will see him spend a little more than three years in prison on fraud charges.
Joe Giudice had been represented by James Leonard Jr, who is now his lead counsel. The move to hire a new lawyer was announced by Leonard on Tuesday. He said that Giudice “strongly believes that the Government has no case to deport him or his family.”
The lawyer quoted his client as saying: “I want to go back to my four daughters, I want to rebuild my life with my family in America.”
Leonard argued in court that the family would be devastated if Giudice were deported back to Italy. The attorney added that if his client were deported, he would begin the legal process to have it reversed.
Leonard said she believed the judge would not deport the family. The judge noted that Giudice and his wife had resolved their issues with the government. “The [defendant] has made great strides and has entered into a number of agreements,” said the judge.
Leonard said that she will be representing Giudice and that she would like him to return to the US before he is deported to Italy on 12 March 2017. She believes that a fair resolution to this case will be preferable to either his deportation or imprisonment.
Giudice was ordered to serve 10 months in prison at his August 26 sentencing, but due to good behaviour has already served nine months. It means that he could be free from prison as early as January.
Although we had previously reported on news of Giudice’s plea deal, it is not known what, if any, length of sentence he has agreed to deal with in exchange for dropping all the charges he was originally facing, especially the immigration fraud charges.