Joe Giudice Vows to 'Become a Better Person' in Prison

— -- It was a teary farewell for Joe Giudice on the season finale of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," as he said goodbye to wife Teresa Giudice and his family before beginning a 41-month prison sentence for tax fraud.

A day before he was to leave for the Federal Correctional Institution in Fort Dix, New Jersey, Joe, 44, vowed to his wife become a better person.

"I just want to go in and get it over with," he told Teresa in a heart-to-heart conversation on Sunday's final episode. "Whatever mistakes we made, you paid your debt, I'm ready to pay my debt and I'll be fine. As long as you mind your business, be humble, do what you have to do, nobody's going to bother you."

"You either learn two things in there," he said of prison. "You either learn how to become a criminal or a better person. So I'm gonna try to become a better person.

For her part, Teresa, 44, told Joe, "I’m just going to pray and, God willing, everything and everybody will be all good."

The scene was shot before Joe began serving his sentence this past March, a few months after his wife returned from serving an 11-month stint in prison for the same charge. The couple's jail sentences were staggered so that one parent could be home with their four daughters -- Gabriella, Audriana, Gia and Milania.

Last month, Teresa told People magazine that her husband was keeping busy while in prison and had lost 35 pounds.

"He's running ... he lifts weights, and that's what he's doing. Just running, working out and then a lot of push-ups and sit-ups," she told the magazine.

Though separated, the husband and wife keep in touch through frequent contact.

"We email every day," Giudice told ABC News’ Mara Schiavocampo in July. "We talk every day, and I see him every week."