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Life hasn't been easy for Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice or her husband Joe recently. Not only did the couple go through a pretty rough bankruptcy last year (they've since withdrawn the claim), Joe now faces up to 11.5 years in prison.
On Tuesday, a grand jury in New Jersey passed a two-count indictment against the Housewives husband that includes one count of wrongfully using identifying information of another and one count of impersonation. They are punishable by up to 10 years in prison and up to 18 months in prison, respectively.
The indictment claims that last year Joe, 40, used his brother's information to obtain a driver's license in Paterson, N.J., because his had been suspended after a DUI. As of today, Joe's license is still suspended.
Joe denied any wrongdoing in an interview last spring, according to People, claiming that he and Teresa were being unfairly targeted because of their fame.
"They didn't even catch me driving," he said at the time. "They came to my house and said you're driving with your brother's license and then they got me with some kind of stupid charge."
Joe's situation was caught by police when his brother, Pietro, was pulled over during a routine traffic stop. Officers ran his license through a mobile data terminal and realized something was wrong when Joe's face showed up in Pietro's place. Joe was arrested for the incident in March.
