A reality star serving time at a prison inspired by a hit TV show?! Talk about a full circle, folks.
This, according to a new report by the Mail Online, which claims Teresa Giudice could be put behind bars at the prison which inspired the wildly popular Netflix series Orange Is the New Black.
On Tuesday, Teresa and her husband Joe Giudice pled guilty to multiple fraud charges in Newark Federal Court. Joe faces a potential sentence of 37 to 46 months in jail while Teresa could get 21 to 27 months. The Real Housewives of New Jersey stars are scheduled to be sentenced on July 8.
If Teresa does serve time, it is reportedly likely that she will be jailed at the closest facility to her home state of New Jersey, which just so happens to be the Federal Correction Institute in Danbury, Conn.—the same location where writer Piper Kerman was jailed.
After serving her sentence, Kerman penned her memoir, Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison, which inspired the hit Netflix series starring Taylor Schilling, Danielle Brooks and Taryn Manning.
"There are very few women's prisons that are close to the big metropolitan areas," criminal lawyer Florian Miedel told the Mail Online. "Danbury is the closest and where Teresa is most likely to be sent, but there is talk of it closing imminently and being turned into a men's facility."
"The next major federal prison would be Alderson in West Virginia, where Martha Stewart served her time," Miedel said, adding, "At the moment, the likeliest facility for Teresa would be Danbury."
Teresa opened up about the scandal via her Twitter account today, writing, "Thank you all for your love & support of my family & my kids. You know how much they mean to me. I am keeping them protected & private.xx"
"Today, I took responsibility for a series of mistakes I made several years ago," Teresa, 41, said in a statement on Tuesday after pleading guilty. "I have said throughout that I respect the legal process and thus I intend to address the court directly at sentencing. I will describe the choices I made, continue to take responsibility for my decisions, and express my remorse to Judge Salas and the public."
"I am heartbroken that this is affecting my family—especially my four young daughters, who mean more to me than anything in the world," said the mom of Gia, 13, Gabriella, 9, Milania, 8, and Audriana, 4. "Beyond this, I do not intend to speak specifically about the case outside of court, at the recommendation of my attorney and out of deference to the government and our legal system."
In total, the Giudices were accused of obtaining more than $5 million in bank loans due to fraudulent and falsified paperwork. Joe, who was born in Italy and is not a U.S. citizen, might be deported.
"I'm the rock. I can't fall apart," Teresa told E! News in October 2013. "If I fall apart the rest of the family is going to fall apart. I'm just focusing on my four beautiful daughters, my husband and that's it."
(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)