"The Real Housewives of New Jersey" star's lawyer, James Leonard, told PhillyVoice.com that an early release isn't totally unheard of. The gist: The star is to serve 85 percent of her issued sentence; that puts her release at February 5, 2016. But the remainder of her sentence, he explained, may also be spent serving time under house arrest.
"She'll be home by Christmas," he said.
From February 2015 to February 2017, he said she will be under a two-year term of supervisory release -- aka, a form of probation.
Leonard also said he corresponds with Giudice everyday through email (she sent an email during our phone chat, actually). Think: Gmail, only with prison monitoring.
"She's told me that she's doing OK, and that everyone's being nice to her -- both staff and inmates," he added. "It seems like she's acclimating pretty well."
No word on whether she has roomies.
There's also a bit of a local angle to be found. The day before her (reportedly lighthearted and leisurely) drive to prison, Leonard bought her a "religious necklace with a medallion" and a St. Teresa model, purchased from Little Flower Religious Gifts and Apparel in Sewell, N.J. She took the items with her into the prison.
The news of Giudice's early release was originally discovered through an inmate locator tool on the Bureau of Prison's website (gotta love technology, right?). According to the site, she shares space in the facility with 1,005 other inmates -- a fair bit more than the five cohabitors she's used to, naturally.
PhillyVoice.com reported earlier this week that Giuidice surrendered to authorities, and began her sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Conn.