Inside the courtroom: My six hours with Joe and Teresa Giudice | NJ.com

NEWARK —The guessing game begins from the moment we take our seats in Judge Esther Salas’ courtroom on the fifth floor of U.S. District Court.

Will Teresa Giudice, the table-tipping star of “Real Housewives of New Jersey,” be sentenced to prison or will the judge be persuaded by the pleas of Giudice’s lawyer and decide that caring for four daughters while her husband is off in prison, facing the likelihood of deportation, is punishment enough?

I was among the two dozen or so reporters to get a seat in Salas’ courtroom today.

I arrived shortly after 7 a.m. for a hearing that started at 10 a.m. There are so many reporters that most are sent down the hall to an overflow room where they can view the proceedings on a video feed.

And security is so tight that it is hard to believe that we are talking about the sentencing of reality TV show stars.

A bomb-sniffing dog makes a pass through the men’s room moments before the Giudices appear on the floor.

One reporter snaps a picture as the Giudices come onto the floor – a violation of courthouse rules -- and is immediately approached by marshals. The couple is quickly ushered into an attorney conference room, across from the courtroom where they’ll be sentenced.

I don’t have a front-row seat but it’s close enough to see Teresa and Giuseppe “Joe” Giudice holding hands as they walk into the courtroom shortly before 10 a.m.

And I see Joe Giudice dab at his eyes when his lawyer tells of the moment the father he adored died in his arms after suffering a massive heart attack in his backyard.

The first hint this could be a long day comes when Salas raises an issue she says is of “great concern.”

The judge barely hides her frustration with what she views as the couple’s failure to come clean with probation officials about their finances.

During a trip to the couple’s home probation officers spotted four ATV’s on the property that the couple hadn’t told them about. They also found a $4,000 backhoe and a 1997 Chevy Corvette valued at $15,000.

“If there is an explanation, I want to hear it,” Salas says to Miles Feinstein, the attorney for Joe Giudice.

Feinstein explains that after the death of his father, Joe Giudice found himself increasingly distracted and unable to focus on his criminal case.

And, Feinstein notes, Giudice was never very good at gauging the value of things.

“Joe has no idea what anything is worth,” Feinstein tells the judge. “This isn’t his field. He’s a builder. He left school early.”

Feinstein admits that he was “shocked” when he noticed the omissions in the financial disclosure forms.

“I appreciate it,” Salas said. “I’m glad I’m not alone.”

For one thing, the judge couldn’t understand why Teresa Giudice failed to list any of her costume jewelry as an asset.

“I own a lot of costume jewelry,” the judge confided. “I don’t own a lot of jewelry but I know what I have.”

The give-and-take about finances goes on for nearly an hour, the judge getting more exasperated by the minute, her arms flailing.

And that’s when I start to do the math. She’s going to sentence him to the maximum amount of prison time outlined in the plea deal – 46 months.

But then Salas takes a left turn. She notes several of Joe Giudice’s good works like helping a family displaced by Hurricane Irene and his devotion to his family.

“I’m giving you credit for the life that you have lived, at least to the people you have loved,” Salas told him.

He’s sentenced to 41 months.

“What you did in this case doesn’t define you as a man,” she told him. “You made some mistakes. You have to pay for them but you have a lot to live for.”

She’ll offer similar words to Teresa Giudice.

But before she does she lays into Teresa for failing to pay some $200,000 in taxes she owed ahead of her sentencing day.

And then I realize that Teresa Giudice is going to prison, too.

“Six months,” I write in my yellow legal pad, predicting the outcome.

As it turns out I was off by about nine months. And the guessing game was over, six hours after it started.

“15 months,” Salas said.

Teresa Giudice never flinched. She stared straight ahead as her husband glanced her way, waiting for a reaction that never came.

Teresa Giudice will begin serving her prison term first, after the Christmas holidays, on Jan. 5, 2015.

They'll have a chance to celebrate their 15th anniversary three weeks from now.

Inside the courtroom: My six hours with Joe and Teresa Giudice | NJ.com