AP Photo/Julio CortezTeresa Giudice and Joe Giudice are free—for now.
On Tuesday, the Real Housewives of New Jersey stars were each released on $500,000 bond, per the Star-Ledger. The popular Bravo stars, appearing in federal court in Newark, N.J., for their hearing on fraud charges, were also briefed on the possibility of Joe, a citizen of Italy but not the United States, being deported to his home country if he's convicted.
Teresa and Joe, who have been accused of conspiring to defraud lenders, illegally obtaining mortgages and other loans and allegedly trying to shield their assets during a bankruptcy case, were told the major charges from Monday's 39-count indictment against them. They did not yet enter their pleas to these charges, but are expected to at their arraignment hearing Aug. 14, 2013.
If convicted, each spouse could face a maximum prison sentence of 20 or 30 years. U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman told reporters a plea deal for the couple has not been discussed.
After this morning's hearing, Teresa and Joe declined to speak to the press, exiting the courtroom in silence before driving away in a white Honda Ridgeline truck. And while Joe's mom had a bit of a tussle with photographers on her way in to the hearing, she and Joe's father left without saying a word.
Teresa's attorney did say in a statement Monday that the mom of four will plead not guilty. On the same day, a source close to the star told E! News she's "shockingly, shockingly calm about this," noting the Teresa and Joe "have been tighter than ever. They've been together constantly and, sadly, their relationship seemed very strong before this news hit."
(Bravo and E! are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
—Reporting by Alicia Quarles and Claudia Rosenbaum