Teresa Giudice is thrilled to be home with her family now, but she surprisingly had a tough, emotional time preparing for her prison release.

ADVERTISEMENT
Throughout the 11 months The Real Housewives of New Jersey star was behind bars at Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, CT, she became close with the other women and therefore was saddened to leave them behind on Wednesday when she was freed, People reported.

The big problem is that Teresa is banned from communicating with these women for a while.

The reality TV star's lawyer James J. Leonard Jr. told People, "She is precluded from doing so because she can't have contact with felons while she is on supervised release for two years."

Leonard said it's difficult for Teresa to cut ties with her friends because they had created "strong bonds."

"She shed lots of tears in Danbury the night before she left," Leonard explained. "The women there made her things -- it was very clear to me that she had established strong bonds with the women in Danbury."

Teresa apparently received gifts from her fellow inmates she'll "cherish forever."

"I read some of the messages in the cards they gave her," Leonard told the magazine. "They were tearjerkers."

If Teresa had the opportunity to head back to Danbury to speak with her fellow prisoners, she reportedly admitted "she would go back tomorrow."

"These women are mothers, daughters, and wives and sisters just like she is," the lawyer said. "Everything she left behind she gave to other inmates for their use and benefit."

Teresa also left prison with three "huge" boxes full of fan mail she received during her incarceration.

Teresa and her husband Joe Giudice were sentenced to jail time in October 2014 after pleading guilty to 41 counts of financial fraud -- which included failure to pay taxes, hiding assets and submitting fake loan applications -- in March of that year.

After reaching a plea deal, Teresa was originally sentenced to 15 months in prison, while Joe got a whopping 41 months. Joe will begin his own sentence at the Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institution in New Jersey early next year. The arrangement was made so one parent can always be with their four young girls.

About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.