Kena Betancur/Getty ImagesKathy Wakile hopes her Real Housewives of New Jersey costars Teresa Giudice and her husband Joe can eventually put their legal woes behind them.
She especially doesn't want to see them behind bars.
"I hope not," Wakile told me at the American Music Awards. "I really do hope not. There are the children. I hope they get this under wraps as soon as possible."
Wakile insists she had no idea the two could have been in trouble. "We don't really get into each other's business like that," she said.
Huh? Since when do the Housewives stars mind their own business?!
"It's not like that," Wakile said. "Nobody talks about anybody else's checkbook."
The Giudices pleaded not guilty last week to two new charges—loan application fraud and bank fraud—that they were hit with just a couple of days before. Both charges each carry maximum penalties of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
Per the now 41-count indictment, a mortgage-loan application filed by the couple falsely listed Teresa's occupation as real estate agent and her monthly salary as $15,000 when she was actually unemployed.
Teresa took to her Bravo blog in September to squash reports that she was in denial over the severity of the charges.
"I'm not in denial about it, I know it's serious and terrible, and I wouldn't wish this situation on anyone," she wrote. "If you've ever been in any kind of legal situation, even a divorce, you know it can suck your soul dry faster than almost anything else. It's not a pretty process. But I choose to stay positive."
A trial is set for Feb. 24, 2014.
Meanwhile, a source told E! News last week that Teresa's court problems haven't impacted on her shooting schedule.
"Producers from the show were at her house yesterday," said the source. "They discussed potential story lines. Everything seems to be moving forward."
(E! Online and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)