"Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Teresa Giudice reportedly attempted to offer a plea deal so as to avoid jail time for federal fraud charges, but the prosecution rejected it, RadarOnline.com reported.
“Teresa and Joe’s defense team submitted a plea deal on Wednesday but the U.S. Attorney denied it,” a supposed source told Radar. The source added, “The prosecutor has said that if she wants to plead it out she has to do jail time. They believe that the evidence will show that Teresa can’t play dumb. She was in cahoots with Joe and was just as much a part of orchestrating the scam as he was.”
Teresa's lawyer refused to broach the subject of a plea deal.
“I’m not discussing it," attorney Henry Klingeman told InTouch Weekly. "If there ever were a deal, I would never discuss any conversations with the government about any client.”
Klingeman previously told CBS News that jail time is a very real possibility for his client considering it is a federal case.
Last month, Teresa and her husband Joe were indicted on 39 counts including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, bank fraud, making false statements on loan applications and bankruptcy fraud. They are accused of submitting false information to secure loans between 2001 and 2008, and hiding their assets during bankruptcy procedures in 2009. Joe is also accused of failing to file tax returns from 2004 to 2008.
"As with any defendant, repeat offenses raise the likelihood of a longer sentence," J. Carney, a former federal prosecutor specializing in economic crime, previously told Us Weekly. "This was clearly a complicated investigation that stretches back years and required significant investigative resources. This can't come as a surprise."
The reality couple from Towaco, N.J., pleaded "not guilty" this week in Newark court. If convicted, they each face 50 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines.
Their trial is set for Oct. 8.
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