'Real Housewives' star assigned to Danbury prison

NEWARK, N.J. -- Teresa Giudice will be the latest celebrity housed at the Federal Correctional Institute, Danbury.

"The Real Housewives of New Jersey" star will begin her 15-month sentence in January for bankruptcy fraud and conspiracy.

FCI Danbury has also housed hotel owner Leona Helmsley, Grammy Award-winning singer Lauryn Hill and Piper Kerman, whose time in Danbury was chronicled in her own book and reality-based TV series, "Orange Is the New Black."

A federal judge this week denied Giudice's attempt to serve most of her prison sentence in a halfway house.

A lawyer for Giudice had filed a letter with a judge in Newark, asking for a recommendation that she serve 12 months in a halfway house. Prosecutors opposed the request, and U.S. District Judge Esther Salas announced Wednesday that she would not make the recommendation.

The judge said Giudice should have made the request to serve time at a halfway house -- the maximum that could be served at such facilities -- at her Oct. 2 sentencing. But even then, the judge said, she likely would have denied it.

Giudice's new attorney, Stacy Ann Biancamano, said her client would have made the request at that time but did not know that she could.

The judge announced Wednesday Giudice must report to FCI Danbury on Jan. 5.

Giudice was sentenced to 15 months in prison for bankruptcy fraud and conspiracy. Her husband, Giuseppe "Joe" Giudice, was sentenced to 41 months.

The Giudices pleaded guilty in March, admitting they hid assets from bankruptcy creditors and submitted phony loan applications to get $5 million in mortgages and construction loans. Joe Giudice also pleaded guilty to failing to pay taxes totaling more than $200,000.