“Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star Jen Shah was sentenced to six and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to her involvement in a national telemarketing scheme that primarily targeted senior citizens.
Shah, 49, was ordered to surrender on February 17 and will serve his sentence at a facility in Texas. She will be on parole for five years after she gets out of prison.
Moments before her sentencing, the Bravo star said addressing her mental health issues gave her new perspective on her actions. “With the proper medication, I can now see what happened,” she said.
Shah initially denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering after federal agents arrested her in 2021. She pleaded guilty and agreed to forfeit millions of dollars related to floor in exchange for prosecutors dropping money laundering. load.
“I knew it was wrong. I knew people were hurt,” the Bravo star testified in a Manhattan court last summer. “I’m really sorry.”
Shah’s charges carried a maximum of 30 years in prison, but the terms of his plea deal set the sentencing guidelines at 11 to 14 years. Prosecutors asked for 10 years, while his legal team asked the judge for three.
“I knew it was wrong. I knew people were hurt.”
—Jen Shah
“I don’t know if he appreciates the damage he’s caused. I hope he did. I heard the words,” U.S. District Court Judge Sidney Stein said during his sentencing, according to NBC News. “There’s no way these people are going to be fed again. … If they’re financially, they’re not going to be emotionally.”
In pleading guilty, Shah admitted running a large fraud ring with his business partner Stuart Smith, who was also arrested and pleaded guilty. As part of their nearly decade-long scheme, Shah and Smith generated and sold lists of hundreds of potential customers to others involved in the operation, knowing they were using the information obtained to repeatedly defraud innocent people through fraudulent scams. Their business raised money by selling victims fraudulent tax preparation services, website design and other business resources, according to the couple’s indictment.
Perhaps most disturbingly, their operation largely targeted one of the easiest targets for scammers: the elderly.
“Jennifer Shah was a key participant in a national program that targeted elderly and vulnerable victims,” Damian Williams, attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement in July. “These victims were sold false promises of financial security, but instead Shah and his accomplices stole their savings and left them with nothing to show for it.”
National Security Investigative Special Agent Peter Fitzhugh also had harsh words for Shah and Smith, saying they had “flaunted their lavish lifestyles to the public as a symbol of their success. In fact, it is assumed that they have built their opulent lifestyles at the expense of vulnerable, often elderly, working-class people.”
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Like the “Real Housewives” stars before her, Shah’s legal troubles played out in front of the cameras in a spectacular reality show. She spent the first season of the Bravo show showing off her wealth to viewers — as female stars of the network’s multi-city franchise should — in the form of her luxurious “Shah Chalet,” a small army of companions and five . party figure. His lifestyle, he often joked with onlookers, was nothing short of “Shah-mazing”.
In a 2020 season 1 reunion episode, Shah gave a vague answer when Bravo host Andy Cohen pressed her to explain what exactly she did for the job.
“My experience has been in direct response marketing for about 20 years, so our company advertises,” he said. “We have a platform that helps people get customers, so when you’re shopping online or on the internet and something comes up, we have the algorithm behind why you get that ad.”
Halfway through its second season, which ended last year, agents from the Department of Homeland Security showed up on the show to suddenly arrest her, accusing her of amassing the wealth she presented on TV through a sinister scheme. Over 800,000 viewers tuned in to watch the drama unfold.
Shah is married to Sharrieff Shah, a football coach at the University of Utah who has made frequent appearances on his wife’s show. They have two sons.
