Even though Josh Duggar's trial won't begin until late November, it now seems almost certain that the disgraced former reality star will be sent to prison.

The only real question remaining is -- for how long?

For months now, Josh's legal team has been challenging the defense and trying to have key pieces of evidence thrown out.

They've even lobbied to have Josh's case dismissed entirely.

Both strategies served the same purpose: attempting to ensure that Josh would never even be forced to stand trial.

Thankfully, that plan failed miserably.

First, the defense tried to have an incriminating photo of Josh's hands ruled inadmissible.

Next, they tried to suppress comments Josh made to an investigator the day that his place of business was raided.

It seems that the 33-year-old mentioned child pornography before the authorities made any mention of why they were searching his office.

Both of these motions were dismissed at a hearing that was held in late September -- the same hearing that provided those baffling photos of Josh and Anna leaving the courthouse with big smiles on their faces.

It was nothing but bad news for Josh that day, but insiders say he was still confident that he would be acquitted.

But as his trial draws near, is that confidence beginning to fade?

Josh is facing 40 years behind bars and a fine of a quarter million dollars.

Needless to say, these are not the sort of consequences that enable one to return to a normal life afterward.

If Josh even lived to complete that sentence (never a sure thing when several-decade sentences are handed out), he would to return to the free world as a destitute sex offender whose name would be added to a national database.

In other words, his lawyers are probably encouraging him to accept whatever sort of plea deal the prosecution might offer.

That deal would involve some prison time, of course, but the sentence might be just short enough that Josh would be able to live some semblance of a life after his release.

The @Pickles4Truth Facebook page -- a fabulous resource for reliable Duggar criticism -- opined on that very issue this week.

"If Josh decides to plea a deal next month he'll still end up doing time in prison," the page's administrator wrote.

"If he decides to fight the charges in court, odds are high he's going to prison.

"All his strategies for fighting the charges were denied by the judge on Monday. What strategy does he have left, intimidating jurors?" the page asked.

"I hope all the jurors are parents. They'll have no empathy for this coddled man child. Let parents listen to the evidence and throw this dangerous pervert in prison."

"Coddled man child" is a perfect description for Josh -- but it sounds like he won't remain sheltered for much longer.

Prison is likely to be an eye-opening experience for the father of six, who probably has no idea of what's in store.

Even if he's come to accept the fact that he might be found guilty, we highly doubt that Josh has internalized the severity of the consequences he faces.

His family reportedly still believes that he's innocent, with Anna even espousing a theory that Josh has been framed by the Biden administration.

So the entire clan is in for a major wake-up call before the end of the year.

And frankly, it can't come soon enough.