Jen Shah has been sentenced to 6 and a half years in jail following her arrest for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit cash laundering, Us Weekly can affirm.
The Actual Housewives of Salt Lake Metropolis star, 49, was sentenced to 78 months in jail with 5 years of supervised launch on Friday, January 6, in a New York Metropolis courtroom. On the listening to, Decide Sidney Stein slammed Shah’s actions after her lawyer Priya Chaudhry started itemizing the “good issues” her consumer had lately performed.
“What good issues might she have been doing, calling aged individuals and promoting them enterprise alternatives and they’d max out their bank cards and get the particular person to place down a further bank card after which upsell them for different merchandise?” Stein requested, per NBC Information. “If there’s good in that I need to hear it.”
The decide additionally famous that he didn’t take Shah’s function on RHOSLC under consideration when deciding her sentence. “Individuals shouldn’t confuse, and this courtroom will not be going to confuse, the character she performs on an leisure present with the particular person I’ve earlier than me,” he mentioned. “The opposite is appearing and that is actuality.”
Jen Shah. Chris Haston/Bravo
The truth star was arrested in March 2021 alongside assistant Stuart Smith. Shah, who initially pleaded not responsible, was accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit cash laundering.
Whereas filming RHOSLC, Shah claimed that she felt “wrongly accused” by authorities. “I don’t take this flippantly,” she mentioned throughout an episode in March. “It’s my life and extra importantly, it’s my household’s life. I care about them greater than something. I don’t need my children or my husband or my mother or my household affected by this and so I’ve to struggle and I’ve to place confidence in the justice system.”
Forward of her trial, the Bravo persona modified her plea to responsible. “In 2012 to March 2021 within the Southern District of New York and elsewhere I agreed with others to commit wire fraud,” she mentioned throughout a June courtroom listening to in New York Metropolis. “I knew this was improper. I knew many individuals had been harmed and I’m so sorry.”
Shah additionally admitted to Stein that she knew her actions had been “improper and unlawful.” After beforehand dealing with as much as 30 years in jail, the U.S. Legal professional’s workplace dropped the second cost of conspiracy to commit cash laundering.
One month later, Shah’s lawyer addressed her consumer’s determination to enter a responsible plea.
“Ms. Shah is an effective girl who crossed a line. She accepts full accountability for her actions and deeply apologizes to all who’ve been harmed,” Chaudhry informed Us Weekly in a July assertion. “Ms. Shah can be sorry for disappointing her husband, kids, household, mates, and supporters. Jen pled responsible as a result of she needs to pay her debt to society and put this ordeal behind her and her household.”
Bravo government producer Andy Cohen weighed in on Shah’s future on the community earlier than her sentencing. “She’s being sentenced on December 15, so I don’t know what to say to individuals who need her on the present,” Cohen, 54, completely informed Us in November earlier than the sentencing date was moved to January 6. “I hope that she will get no jail time by any means and she will be able to come proper again … however I’ve a sense that she’s not going to be accessible to be on the present.”
He added: “Some individuals on Twitter had been saying, ‘We wish Jen subsequent season.’ And I’m like, ‘OK, effectively, discuss to the decide.’”
Forward of Shah’s sentencing, a number of of her alleged victims despatched impression statements to the decide requesting that “the punishment match the crime.” A widow who enrolled in a tutoring program mentioned she spent 1000’s of {dollars} and started experiencing despair that she thought might result in suicide.
“The psychological anguish continues to be with me, at the moment, and the guilt I harbor from being so susceptible and straightforward prey to such sharks, nonetheless swim in my thoughts,” she wrote in courtroom paperwork obtained by Us. “I don’t need the following particular person to undergo any of those psychological anxieties, resembling I’ve. What’s regular? I have no idea anymore.”
One particular person claimed they grew to become homeless after accumulating greater than $30,000 in debt because of telemarketing scams, whereas one other sufferer alleged they misplaced greater than $100,000 and needed to remortgage their residence.
“You sounded sympathetic and convincing, so I trusted you,” the second sufferer wrote, instantly addressing Shah. “I used to be such an fool. The courts might have some type of punishment for the lawless actions which were dedicated, however even when you’ve served your due punishment, no matter which may be, our God and heavenly creator of all issues would be the one, in the long term, who you’ll really need to reply to.”
