Jersey Shore Star Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino Reports to Prison, Begins 8-Month Sentence

Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino has begun his prison sentence for tax evasion, PEOPLE confirms.

The Jersey Shorestar reported to the Otisville Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York, on Tuesday after ringing in the new year with his family and new wife Lauren Pesce.

On the drive there, Pesce filmed him reacting to fans’ supportive messages on Instagram Live.

I want to put this behind me and move forward. The comeback is always greater than the setback,” he said, according to Radar. “The Situation will reveal himself in 2019. Currently under construction, but will be revealed. Under new management now.”

He concluded: “There is nothing more to say. Just take me to jail.”

Sorrentino, 36, and his brother Marc were indicted in September 2014 for tax offenses and conspiring to defraud the United States after allegedly failing to properly pay taxes on $8.9 million in income from 2010 to 2012. In April 2017, both men were indicted on additional charges including tax evasion, structuring and falsifying records.

Sorrentino pled guilty to one count of tax evasion in January 2018, and his brother Marc pled guilty to one count of aiding in the preparation of a false and fraudulent tax return. In October 2018, Sorrentino was sentenced to eight months in prison and two years of supervised release, and Marc was sentenced to two years.

Sorrentino was also ordered to complete 500 hours of community service and was given $123,913 in restitution, which he has already paid, plus a fine of $10,000.

The MTV star didn’t let his looming prison sentence affect his life plans, though: On Nov. 1, 2018, he tied the knot with Pesce in front of friends and family in New Jersey.

The couple met in math class while in community college and got engaged on Valentine’s Day 2018.

“We went out together for about four years, and then once Jersey Shore started we decided to take a break throughout seasons 1 through 6,” he previously told PEOPLE. “Once [the show] was over, we eventually reconnected and have been together ever since, for over four years now.”

“She’s my best friend, my better half,” he added. “She makes me a better person. I’m so excited that she’s in my life.”

Sorrentino’s sentence begins a little over a month after he celebrated three years of sobriety. As fans remember, he rose to fame as a hard-partying, self-proclaimed “guido” on the show — but by the time the original run wrapped in 2012, the New Jersey native was battling a prescription painkiller addiction.

Six years and two stints in rehab later, Sorrentino told PEOPLE last year that he “worked so hard to turn my life around and be the best person I can be.”

“I did it, and good things came around,” he said. “I’ve done everything in my power to better myself. I really feel that I’m in the best situation possible.”

Of reemerging into the public eye to film the Jersey Shore: Family Vacation reboot, Sorrentino said it “took a lot of hard work just to get there.”

“I had a very strong foundation for my recovery with over two years [sober] when I entered the house,” he said. “But I did have to challenge myself to go out and film a whole season of Jersey Shore and have fun without alcohol — to show the youth out there that it is possible.”

A rep for Sorrentino previously told PEOPLE that the reality star was “grateful to continue work, celebrate the holidays and his three years sober milestone” before reporting to prison.

“He looks forward to completing his sentence and coming home to Lauren, family and friends,” the rep said.