Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino may be facing up to five years in prison for tax evasion, but the Jersey Shore star has managed to maintain a positive attitude.
“We’re taking it one day at a time right now,” Sorrentino, 35, told Us Weekly on Thursday, April 5, alongside his Jersey Shore Family Vacation costars, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, Paul “Pauly D” DelVecchio, Deena Nicole Cortese and Vinny Guadagnino. “We’re really hoping for a positive outcome and you know, I worked so hard on myself the past couple years to turn a negative situation into a positive one, so I feel that when that day comes, I’ll be ready for it.”
“Am I scared? Of course, that’s always gonna be there,” Sorrentino added. “You know your future hangs in the balance a little bit, but like I said, I’ve made so many positive changes in my life in so many ways … I did the best I could and I’m ready for it.”
As previously reported, Sorrentino pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion in January. According to New Jersey’s District Attorney’s Office documents previously obtained by Us, Sorrentino “admitted that in tax year 2011, he earned taxable income, including some that was paid in cash, and that he concealed a portion of his income to evade paying the full amount of taxes he owed.” The MTV personality also “made cash deposits into bank accounts in amounts less than $10,000, in an effort to ensure that these deposits would not come to the attention of the IRS.”
The positive changes Sorrentino previously referred to include being 28 months sober and maintaining his sobriety during the filming of the Jersey Shore reunion series.
“I had to challenge myself to learn how to have fun, while my other roommates were doing their thing. I had to learn to come from a place of staying in my own lane, running my own race,” he told Us at the Jersey Shore Family Vacation premiere in Los Angeles on Thursday, March 29. “I have to be grateful and blessed that I’m, I’m doing this right now with my friends. I’m in a club listening to music and I just had to learn how to have fun dance without substance and or drinking. To show people that it’s possible and if you watch the season you see it is possible. Because The Situation turns out more than most people do when they even drink alcohol!”
“I did everything in my power to become better, not bitter,” the Dancing With the Stars alum added. “Yes. I currently am the director of public outreach for a rehab in New Jersey, where I speak, I do events once a month to help anyone suffering from the disease of addiction. So I’ve pretty much tried to better myself in any way possible, while facing challenges in life. So at the end of the day, when that day finally comes, I did my best to be a better person.”
Jersey Shore Family Vacation premieres on MTV Thursday, April 5, at 8 p.m. ET.
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