Why Did This 'Secrets And Wives' Star Go To Jail?

When you sign on to a reality show, you pretty much agree to let people into your life to see the good, the bad, and the ugly of it. Reality TV stars have done this to varying degrees over the years, but Secrets and Wives ' Susan Doneson has been more open than most. Don't believe me? Pretty much from the get-go, we learned that her husband Jonathan Doneson once went to jail.

Yes, according to Susan's Bravo profile, Jonathan served a two year stint in jail for securities fraud. That can mean a lot of different things, but they basically it involves deceiving investors or manipulating financial markets, according to the FBI's official website. This sort of thing is commonly referred to as white-collar crime.

According to his official case file, Jonathan was one of 25 people indicted in a huge stock fraud scheme. Susan has contended on the show that Jonathan went to jail for manipulation and control, not stealing, as Andi had insinuated in the second episode of Secrets and Wives this season. It looks like Jonathan was originally sentenced to 46 months in prison and was ordered to pay more than $16 million in restitution.

Susan doesn't shy away from this subject on Secrets and Wives. She openly talks about it on the show, and the fact that Jonathan served time for securities fraud is even in her official bio on BravoTV.com. On the show, she has said that the big banks committed the same crime and plenty of people in the ladies' social circle have gone to prison for similar white-collar crimes. Liza Sandler, who grew up with Jonathan, even said that knowing the type of guy that he is, she wasn't surprised that he would fall into that sort of crowd.

Despite his legal troubles, Susan stood by his side throughout the whole thing. She fell in love with him before he went to prison and dated him while he was serving time, writing him letters and even visiting him in jail, as you can see in the below photo from an episode of Secrets and Wives.

When Jonathan was finally released, he and Susan were inseparable (They are pretty open on the show about their on-the-way-home-from-jail car sex.) "Those were romantic times," Susan said on Secrets and Wives.

Since Jonathan has a loud, over-the-top personality on Secrets and Wives, I would expect him to be similarly flippant about the crime he committed. However, he does seem genuinely sorry about what he did, but also ready to put the past behind him.

And, it appears that he has. In addition to now raising a family with Susan, Jonathan keeps busy as a partner for Chia Bagels by Decision Nutrition and co-owner of the solar energy company Innovated Energy Solutions, according to his LinkedIn profile.

But, that doesn't mean Jonathan still doesn't know how to make trouble with his wife and her frenemies on Secrets and Wives. He always seems up for that.

Images: Barbara Nitke/Bravo; Bravo