Teresa Giudice -- Sentenced Today ... Tells Judge, I'm Not the Bitch from Bravo

Teresa Giudice will be sentenced Thursday morning ... and TMZ has learned she'll throw herself at the mercy of the court, telling the judge "Real Housewives of New Jersey" is phony and she's actually real nice.

Teresa has filed legal docs in which she argues for NO jail time. She says the judge should not be influenced by her role in "RHONJ" because "The image is little more than a carefully crafted fiction, engineered by Bravo TV through scripted lines and clever editing."

She also says she and Joe have 4 young daughters. Joe -- who will almost certainly be sentenced Thursday to prison -- is now also subject to deportation. Teresa says if she goes to prison, the girls will likely have to be split up because no one relative can take all 4.

And Teresa says ... she's more than happy to forfeit any ill-gotten money from the wire fraud if she gets to skate. She says she's willing to do community service and accept home detention.

And finally Teresa says she does a lot of charity work with sick kids and others, and she can be more useful in the community than behind bars.

Here's the problem. The sentencing guidelines provide for a prison sentence of somewhere between 21 and 27 months. She's gunning for mercy.