Housewives

“Real Housewives of Potomac” star Karen Huger’s time in prison is over, earlier than expected.

The reality TV star was released Tuesday from the Montgomery County Detention Center in Maryland, a spokesperson for the Montgomery Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirmed to The Times. Huger left six months into a yearlong prison sentence. She was sentenced in February to two years in prison with one year suspended after she was convicted in 2024 of driving under the influence in Potomac.

Representatives for Huger, 62, did not immediately respond The Times’ request for comment on Tuesday.

Huger waved to bystanders from her SUV as she exited the facility shortly after her release, according to video shared by Fox 5 DC reporter Stephanie Ramirez.

Maryland police arrested Huger in March 2024, citing her for driving under the influence after she crossed a median and hit street signs, crashing her Maserati. She was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence and other traffic violations and was later released from police custody.

Shortly after her arrest, Huger attributed the accident to grief and her mother’s 2017 death. “Grief comes and goes in waves, and with Mother’s Day approaching, it has felt more like a tsunami,” she told TMZ at the time.

A Maryland jury convicted Huger in December of driving under the influence and negligent driving charges. The jury also found the Bravo-lebrity guilty of failure to control speed to avoid a collision and failure to notify authorities of an address change. She was cleared on a reckless driving charge.

Huger’s attorney A. Scott Bolden told People in a December statement that they were “disappointed” by the jury’s verdict but “of course respect their decision and appreciate their time hearing our case.”

Amid her legal woes, Huger was absent from the “Real Housewives of Potomac” Season 9 reunion. In a prerecorded message played during the special, Huger said she entered a private recovery program to address her “taking antidepressants and drinking.”

“This is very frightening, but I accept full responsibility for everything with my car accident,” Huger tearfully told producers. “I don’t care about me right now. I care about my children; I care about my family. They’re so hurt.”

June 3 (UPI) — “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills ” husband and former attorney Tom Girardi will spend real time in a federal prison for stealing $15 million from his former clients.

U.S. District Court for Central California Judge Josephine Staton on Tuesday sentenced Girardi, 86, to seven years and three months in federal prison.

Staton also ordered Girardi to pay $2.3 million in restitution and fines and on Monday ruled his dementia won’t keep him out of prison.

Girardi is the estranged husband of the reality show’s Erika Jayne, and a federal jury in August convicted him on four counts of wire fraud for embezzling millions from his clients over 10 years.

His victims include relatives of some of the victims of the 2018 Lion Air crash in the Java Sea that killed 189 people.

Girardi embezzled $3 million from several surviving family members of the tragedy’s victims.

Instead of ordering Girardi to stay in a long-term care facility due to his dementia, Staton ordered him to report to prison to start serving his sentence on July 17.

Staton presided over a three-hour hearing on Monday, during which two medical experts brought by the prosecution testified about Girardi’s medical condition.

Two witnesses also testified on Girardi’s behalf, and he took the stand to testify in his defense.

Girardi’s testimony indicated confusion and a lack of awareness regarding his current situation.

He told the court he recently traveled the country and has an active case in Oklahoma.

Girardi, though, was a resident in an assisted living home in California and kept in its secure memory care area for the past two years.

He also underwent psychological evaluation for six weeks in North Carolina at the start of the year.

During Monday’s hearing, Girardi at times said he has “serious memory loss” when asked about his current situation.

Staton ruled that his responses demonstrated Girardi’s self-awareness.

As Girardi exited the witness stand, his trousers began to drop, but he quickly righted them, which Staton said further demonstrated his mental awareness.

His attorneys asked Staton to require him to stay at his current assisted living facility, but she sentenced him to serve his time at an appropriate federal prison facility.

Girardi formerly was among attorneys representing victims during the 1993 Pacific Gas and Electric Co. lawsuit that inspired the “Erin Brockovich” film starring Julia Roberts that was released in 2000.