The REAL Reasons Reality TV Stars Commit Fraud! Apollo Nida, star of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, was just sentenced to a whopping 8 years in prison for stealing the identities of more than 50 people and laundering more than $2.3 million. Meanwhile, Real Housewives of New Jersey stars Teresa and Joe Giudice are on their way to receive their own punishments for committing a staggering 41 counts of fraud. Is it me, or doesn't it seem strange that people that are on reality TV shows, with cameras documenting their every move 24/7, would engage in illegal activity for the world to witness? So why are these TV personalities jeopardizing their lucrative platforms to perform shady acts that the public will inevitably catch on to? Do they think are smart enough to get away with it? Do they believe that because they are famous that they are above the law?

The only answer I can come up with, that truly makes sense, is that the men feel emasculated by their more successful spouses and will do anything to be the top provider for their family. For Apollo, he's been living in the shadows of his more fruitful counterpart, Phaedra Parks, for years. Maybe his fraudulent behavior stems from feeling as if he can't keep up with his wife's achievements. Phaedra is not only a reality star getting paid big Bravo bucks, but the southern bell is also highly educated while Apollo barely graduated from High School. Parks is an attorney, and recently earned another degree in funeral services. Apollo is, well....we aren't even sure. Not insinuating that Nida was a moocher, but it must be painful to the man's ego to watch his wife constantly bring home the bacon. And Phaedra isn't exactly a woman that is geared towards being affectionate and petting her man's ego. She's to the point, cutthroat, and at times condescending towards people she feels are below her abilities. Not blaming Phaedra here; she has every right to be pompous with her impressive resume. We are just stating the facts.

So knowing Nida could get caught, was the RHOA hubby so embarrassed that he felt the need to steal money from senior citizens? Did he want to impress his wife that badly? His irresponsible behavior puts him in jail for a third time, yes a THIRD time. Nida was previously convicted and sentenced to jail for racketeering and began serving his sentence July 28, 2004. He served nearly 5 years of his 18-year sentence before being paroled in May 2009. Apollo ALSO served close to 5 months from December 29, 1998 to May 14, 1999 for theft by receiving stolen goods. But worse than prison, is being away from his family, which includes two small children. Was his behavior reckless due to his bruised ego, or did he really think he could get away with it? To put it more accurately, was Apollo hurting or was he just plain stupid? I'm betting a little is the first but mostly the latter.

So that brings me to Juicy Joe and Tre. From the very first episode of RHONJ, Teresa Guidice was throwing around cash like her hands were on fire. Tre said things like, "we need a new house because I won't live where someone else has ever slept" and she walked into childrens' clothing stores telling her kids to get whatever they want followed by whipping out wads of hundred dollar bills at teh register. We never actually see Teresa use her credit card. So what was going on behind the scenes?

Well, now we know the answer to that because Teresa and Joe were not just charged with fraud. Like their Atlanta counterpart Nida, the pair admitted defeat and plead guilty to fraudulent behavior. Joe was accused of 41 counts of fraud including lying about his wife's income, saying she was making over 100K per month as a real estate broker. So Joe was definitely living a life of illegal crime while his wife was out shopping. I truly believe Teresa had no idea and if she had any inkling of doubt she brushed it aside into her foreheadless head. Teresa never claimed to be intelligent or even hyper aware of anything. So Joe takes more than half the blame. The pair will be sentenced in early September and their future inevitably appears grim.

But why, after Joe knew cameras were peeled to his body, did he keep up his illegal game? The same answer as Nida. Here are these men, watching their wives getting paid out by Bravo some serious coin, and they felt that they needed to keep up with the new treasures obtained by their wives in any way that they could. Desperation can be very dangerous when it comes to a man's self worth.

Joe Guidice's criminal acts probably started way before Housewives aired. But why didn't Joe shut down the scandal once he knew he was being scrutinized in the public eye? I'm sure many men do the same thing that Joe did to make some cash. But anyone with a few marbles in their head would say to themselves, 'ok, the party's over...now let's capitalize on our newfound fame and quit cheating the government and bank's money.' But Joe kept pressing on, throwing his family right into his illegal circus bringing down the whole Guidice household.

So who's worse? Apollo or Joe? I think Joe wins the worst husband of the decade award. He has 4 children and could have stopped with the newfound fame. Nida, with his past, just got caught up and Phaedra is more pompous that Teresa. Tre would have loved Joe no matter how much coin was rolling in. But Parks might have dumped the broke boy and moved on to something more stable in Atlanta.

What drove Joe...was greed. What drove Apollo...was fear. Both criminals. Both bad. But at least Apollo didn't drag down his own family and you can kind of feel for the guy. Joe on the other hand, was just hustling till he couldn't hustle no more.

What do you think??? Let me know what you believe is the reason reality stars continue to engage in illegal behavior.