"Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Joe Giudice was released into ICE custody on Thursday morning.

Giudice finished a 41-month sentence for mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud. He was first sent to Fort Dix but was transferred to Allenwood at the end of 2017. Giudice came to the United States from Italy with his parents when he was 7 years old and while he was a legal U.S. resident, he never applied for citizenship. Because he was convicted of fraud, his legal residency can be revoked and he can be deported.

A judge ruled in October that Giudice would be deported upon his release but he filed an appeal in November.

His wife, Teresa Giudice, served a little over 11 months in a Connecticut prison for the same crimes and was released on Dec. 23, 2015. His wife, the star of the Bravo reality-TV series, has said that she is considering divorcing her husband if he is deported because their daughters are too young for the family to move to Italy and the couple does not want to have a long-distance relationship.

An ICE spokesman told New Jersey 101.5 that Joe Giudice was released from the Allenwood Low Federal Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania on Thursday and would be moved to an ICE facility pending a deportation hearing. The spokesman would not disclose the location of the facility.

Giuseppe "Joe" Giudice (L) and wife Teresa Giudice appear in court
Giuseppe "Joe" Giudice (L) and wife Teresa Giudice appear in court (Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
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His lawyer, James Leonard Jr., said in a statement  to People.com that the facility was in western Pennsylvania where he would stay pending the outcome of the hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.

“His lawyers and his family are hopeful that justice will prevail and Mr. Guidice will return home to his wife and four daughters who love him and miss him," Leonard said in a statement to People.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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