RHONJ'S Joe Giudice To Be Released From Jail, Enter ICE Custody

MONTVILLE, NJ — Montville resident Joe Giudice is expected to be released from federal prison on Thursday, and enter into ICE custody upon his release.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials confirmed to Patch that they expect the prison Giudice is being held to honor their detainer request. An immigration judge ordered Giudice eligible for deportation to his native Italy late last year.

Giudice has appealed the deportation order, and will be held in ICE custody as the appeal is going through the system. The heart of the appeal is whether or not Giudice's crime is an aggravated felony or not, immigration lawyer Derek DeCosmo told NJ.com. If the courts decide if it is an aggravated crime, his deportation is nearly certain.

Giudice and his wife, Teresa, both 46, pleaded guilty in 2014 to bankruptcy fraud, and Joe Giudice pleaded guilty to not paying $200,000 in taxes. Teresa also plead guilty, and served slightly less than a year of her sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Conn. She spent the remaining two months of her sentence under house arrest in the couple's Montville mansion.

Giudice came to the U.S. as an infant and never became a citizen, according to NBC4. As a legal permanent resident, he had always faced possible deportation to Italy after he completes his sentence.

Teresa Giudice will not move herself and the couple's four daughters to Italy after he is deported, TMZ reported.

With previous reporting by Dan Hubbard