Reality star Jen Shah sentenced to 6.5 years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud conspiracy charges
Jen Shah has been sentenced after pleading guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City cast member plead guilty in July 2022 and will now face 78 months in prison - that's six and a half years behind bars.
The mum-of-two was sentenced in Federal Court in Manhattan today (6 January).
The reality TV star must report to prison on 17 February but her reporting location is still being determined, however, her team suggested a minimum-security prison in Texas.
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Shah was joined by her husband, Sharrieff Shah, an American football coach and former player and their two sons; Sharrieff Jr. and Omar at her sentencing.
Shah and her former assistant, Stuart Smith, were both arrested in March 2021 on wire fraud and money laundering charges in connection to a nationwide telemarketing scheme targeting the elderly.
Smith originally claimed he was innocent, however he changed his plea to guilty in November 2021. Shah changed her plea during a last-minute hearing to guilty in July 2022, a mere week before she was set to go to trial.
She faced a maximum of 30 years in prison and up to $9.5 million in fines and restitution, plus a $6 million forfeiture. In today's sentencing, the judge did not impose a monetary fine on Shah.
The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, issued a statement in July 2022 upon her plea change. "Jennifer Shah was a key participant in a nationwide scheme that targeted elderly, vulnerable victims," he said in a press release.
"These victims were sold false promises of financial security but instead Shah and her co-conspirators defrauded them out of their savings and left them with nothing to show for it. This Office is committed to rooting out these schemes whatever form they take."
Real Housewives mastermind Andy Cohen, who executive produces Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and all the Real Housewives spin-offs, opened up about Shah’s guilty plea in July. “When you say you’re guilty of something, it maybe means you’re guilty,” he mused on his Sirius XM series Radio Andy.
It is unclear whether Shah will return for future seasons of RHOSLC in any capacity. She has been a main cast member since the show’s debut in November 2020 and the third season is currently airing on Bravo.
UNILAD has contacted Bravo for comment.
The series has already had a cast shakeup after Jennie Nguyen was fired in January 2022 due to her Facebook posts criticising the Black Lives Matter movement.
Fellow cast member Mary Cosby announced she was leaving the series in February 2022.
In October, Cohen addressed Shah’s absence from BravoCon 2022 and it doesn’t bode well for her return for future seasons. “She plead guilty,” he said during a panel. “I think that was kind of, unfortunately, the end of, you know, the engagement there.”
Gregory Robinson