"When it all happened, I didn't know. I thought it was all a joke. For me anyway," Teresa admitted, breaking down how she finally found out exactly what she'd done to get put behind bars.
Teresa Giudice is reflecting on the past legal troubles she faced with her ex-husband Joe Giudice.
While appearing on her daughter Gia Giudice's Casual Chaos podcast, the Real Housewives of New Jersey star admitted she didn't take the charges they were facing seriously enough.
"When it all happened, I didn't know. I thought it was all a joke. For me anyway," Teresa said during the May 12 episode. "With your father, obviously I knew. For the government to come knocking on your door, there was something going on."
Teresa and Joe filed for bankruptcy in 2009, citing an $11 million debt. Five years later, they were indicted on fraud charges, eventually pleading guilty.
"I was never arrested, never handcuffed, never shackled," she added. "Thank you, God. At least that was one good thing."
Teresa did spend time behind bars, however -- 11 months to be exact -- after initially being sentenced to 15 months on fraud charges.
Joe, meanwhile, served 41 months in prison before being deported back to his native Italy.
"I recently found out, now, that I thought I bought a house. I thought I bought two houses, because I really wasn't really paying attention to the whole thing," Teresa said. "I guess stupid of me, but not really, because I wasn't involved in your father's business. I thought it was all a joke."
At the time, Teresa thought Joe was using her credit to buy a house because he was flipping homes. It wasn't until recently, she revealed, that she asked Joe for more clarity.
"He's like, 'You didn't even buy a house, Tre.' He's like, 'We refinanced a property I had.' I was like, 'What?' I went to jail for refinancing a house," she added. "I'm, like, 'Why did you make me sign those papers that day?' … So that's what I went to jail for."
She continued, "I put my my signature on papers. Whatever numbers were on those papers were incorrect. That's considered fraud. From now on, never sign papers unless you know what you're signing."
Teresa said she "never thought" she she'd go to jail "in a million years," and was convinced she hadn't done anything wrong.
