NEWARK, N.J. — The married stars of the “Real Housewives of New Jersey” are trading the drama of reality TV for prison.

Teresa Giudice was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court to 15 months in prison on conspiracy and bankruptcy fraud charges while her husband, Giuseppe “Joe” Giudice, was sentenced to 41 months by a judge who castigated them for failing to disclose all their assets yet gave both a measure of leniency.

In a nod to the couple’s four young daughters, Judge Esther Salas staggered the sentences so that Teresa Giudice will serve her sentence first. Teresa Giudice is scheduled to report to prison in early January.

Teresa Giudice, 42, cried as she apologized in court before her sentencing.

“I fully take responsibility for my actions. I need to learn to take responsibility for myself,” she said. “I can’t even explain the pain that I have gone through. I am more sorry than anybody will ever know or understand.”

Joe Giudice also apologized and said he had disgraced many people. He faces an immigration hearing when he completes his sentence and likely will be deported. His attorney said Giudice came to the U.S. as an infant and didn’t know he wasn’t an American citizen until he was an adult.

A spokesman for NBCUniversal, which owns Bravo, the channel that airs “Real Housewives,” said Thursday the network wasn’t commenting on the Giudices’ position with the show.

The network said the couple will appear together on “Watch What Happens Live” on Monday night for their first postsentencing interview.

Thursday’s sentencing drew a mob of media, with an overflow courtroom to accommodate spectators. At several junctures, the judge criticized the couple for omitting numerous assets from a presentencing report, including ATVs and jewelry.