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The Daily Dish The Real Housewives of New Jersey

What's Next for Teresa Giudice? Her Lawyer Forecasts Her 2016

Lawyer James J. Leonard Jr. explains how the #RHONJ mom has changed and what's next in the new year.

By Jocelyn Vena
Teresa Giudice Wishes You a Happy 2016

After spending a majority of 2015 in prison, Teresa Giudice's new year is shaping up to be very different. The Real Housewives of New Jersey mom began her home confinement on December 23 after being released from the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Conn. where she served time in connection with the multiple counts of fraud. Now home with her family, Teresa is serving the rest of her sentence in Montville, NJ, by wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet. The bracelet will come off in a few short weeks, and her lawyer, James J. Leonard Jr., revealed to The Daily Dish what's next for the wife and mother.

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"Her monitor will come off on February 5, that is correct, [then] she will be on what's known as supervised release," he explained. "Supervised release is additional supervision but not as stringent as the home confinement/Location Monitoring Program."

February is a big month for Teresa, as she will also release her new memoir, Turning the Tables: From Housewife to Inmate and Back Again. And Leonard Jr. promises that fans will see another side of the reality star. "I think that if they think they know Teresa, they should read the memoir because they are going to get a completely different [take]," he said, after confirming he's read the upcoming release. "They will leave after reading that book with a very, very different opinion of Teresa and her life. And I think they will [gain] a tremendous respect for her after reading the book. I think the book is absolutely phenomenal. She was very honest in the book. She pulled no punches and I think the people are going to come away with the sense that they got to know her a lot better in that book."

For those fans who wonder if this experience has changed the wife and mother, Leonard Jr. says he has seen a growth in Teresa since she entered prison in January 2015. "I think she has grown during this process," he said. "I feel comfortable saying the I definitely think she has become a little bit more insightful. And I think that what you'll see when she comes home is perhaps somebody that will maybe slow down a little bit and smell the roses."

With such a big year ahead, take a look back at Teresa in these vintage photos.

 
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