Virginia Sherwood/BravoAlmost one week into her sentence, Teresa Giudice is already doing well.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey star turned herself in to start her 15-month stay in the Danbury, Conn. prison, and her lawyer, James Leonard Jr., tells E! News exclusively that she is holding up just fine!
"She wrote that she's doing fine and getting along with everyone," he says. "Everyone's been kind and respectful to her, both inmates and staff. She's doing well."
He has communicated with her via email, which is subjected to monitoring, but their correspondence remains private "due to attorney-client privilege," he tells us.
Although she remains imprisoned, there is some good news that lies ahead, according to her attorney.
"She will get her first family visit this weekend," Leonard says, adding that her husband, Joe Giudice, will definitely be going but isn't sure if all of their daughters will be for this trip.
Although she was sentenced to serve 15 months in the prison that is the inspiration for Netflix's Orange Is the New Black, Leonard says that she has a chance to get out earlier. To clarify her scheduled leave date on the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, Leonard explains:
"It's a simple calculation. You get your sentence, in her case 15 months," he says.
"You have to serve at least 85 percent of the 15 months, which is the release date listed on the BOP site."
On why she might be able to get out earlier, he says, "Out of the 85 percent of her sentence served, she is eligible to do 10 percent of that under house arrest or in a halfway house."
Upon completion of her sentence, Joe, 42, will begin to serve his 41-month sentence. He then faces the possibility of deportation, as the Italian dad is not a U.S. citizen. A federal judge staggered their sentences so that one parent would be around to care for their four daughters: Gia Giudice, 14, Gabriela Giudice, 10, Milania Giudice, 8, and Audriana Giudice, 5.
—Reporting by Beth Sobol