'Real Housewives of New Jersey' stars Teresa and Joe Giudice sentenced

Teresa Giudice (2nd from L) and Joe Giudice leave after being sentenced at federal court in Newark on October 2, 2014 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)



(CNN) -- "Real Housewives of New Jersey" stars Teresa and Giuseppe "Joe" Giudice faced a harsh dose of unscripted reality Thursday at a federal courthouse in Newark, New Jersey.

The New Jersey U.S. Attorney's office tweeted that Joe Giudice received a sentence of 41 months in prison while his wife was sentenced to 15 months. The couple had earlier pleaded guilty to multiple federal fraud charges.

In addition to the prison terms, Judge Salas sentenced each to two years of supervised release, and ordered the couple to forfeit $414,588. Additionally, the judge fined Giuseppe $10,000 and Teresa $8,000

It brought to a close a case that had been pending against the pair who reportedly lived lavishly and were accused of various offenses including including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and lying on mortgage and loan applications.

Officials said the jail terms will be staggered to make sure that the Giudice's four daughters will be taken care of. Teresa will surrender first, beginning her sentence January 5 2015, and once she has returned from prison her husband will report.

"Both of those sentences, in the government's view, are fair, appropriate, and reasonable sentences and we're satisfied with the result," federal prosecutor Paul Fishman said in a press conference following the hearing.

In a September 2013 interview with Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live," Teresa told host Andy Cohen that she couldn't picture a world where she couldn't be there for her children.

"I'm not focusing on that right now. I'm focusing on just staying positive and being like every other mom out there," she said. "You go through things in life, I don't know why, I mean I'm asking like, 'Why? Why is this happening to me?' "

The couple quickly got into a white Mercedes SUV after the hearing ended. Teresa Giudice kept her head down.

Teresa and Joe pleaded guilty in March to hiding assets from bankruptcy court and submitting phony loan applications to obtain approximately $5 million in mortgages and construction loans.

Along with her Bravo reality show, Teresa Giudice has written three New York Times bestselling cookbooks and also competed on the NBC reality show "The Celebrity Apprentice" in 2012.

Because Joe is not a U.S. citizen, he could be deported following swerving his sentence. Officials said that decision remains for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to make at a later time.

Attorneys for Teresa and Giuseppe Giudice did not immediately respond to request for comment.