Jen Shah

2023 - 1 - 7

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Image courtesy of "Vox"

Real Housewife Jen Shah has been sentenced to 6.5 years in prison (Vox)

The Real Housewives' spectacle of unearned wealth was all fun and games until Jen Shah defrauded the elderly.

But as more and more crimes have piled up, and now with the criminal charges [against ex-Housewives husband Tom Girardi](https://www.vox.com/2021/8/12/22620854/rhobh-erika-jayne-lawsuit-true-crime) and accusations of [religious abuse](https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/a38320133/mary-cosby-church-rhoslc-cult-leader-cameron/) against [former RHOSLC cast member Mary Cosby](https://www.thedailybeast.com/rhoslcs-mary-cosby-is-accused-of-running-a-religious-cult-by-former-congregation-members), it seemed almost inevitable that the day would arrive when the money we loved to watch would come, in clearly criminal and unwilling form, from us. And it becomes a particularly heady game with producers: It seems like the editors’ intent is to show how much Shah was willing to put herself on camera in an effort to save her case. What I thought started out to be an investment in a company that I could pass on to my children if the business got off the ground successfully, ended up almost ruining ALL OF OUR LIVES,” one of the victims wrote to the presiding judge, asking for appropriate punishment for Shah. She talks often about how hard the trial is, how hard it is to fight against a system that she says is stacked against her. The legal advice she seems to have been given, as evidenced by how she approached her case on the show, was to keep reiterating, on camera, that she was innocent and reminding us that in the American justice system, people are innocent until proven guilty. The show soured for Shah in her second season when her March arrest was caught on tape. [ According to NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/real-housewives-salt-lake-city-star-jen-shah-pleads-guilty-wire-fraud-rcna37631), Shah agreed to forfeit $6.5 million and pay up to $9.5 million in restitution. But her time on the show slowly morphed into a weird, often bleak, look at the legal fight to keep her out of jail. If someone’s selling a business, it’s in their best interest to project an image that doesn’t tarnish the brand — and again, that isn’t really “real” behavior. According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, this was “in connection with telemarketing and conspiracy to commit money laundering.” Back in March 2021, Shah was arrested (during filming, and more on this in a bit) along with Stuart Smith, whom the show described as her “assistant.” The pair were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. [married her step-grandfather](https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/a34930757/real-housewives-salt-lake-city-mary-cosby-grandfather-marriage/) and has a child by him).

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Image courtesy of "NBC News"

Jen Shah sentencing live updates: 'Real Housewives' star gets 6.5 ... (NBC News)

Shah pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for running a telemarketing scheme that defrauded elderly people out of thousands of dollars.

“She and her co-conspirators persisted in their conduct until the victims’ bank accounts were empty, their credit cards were at their limits, and there was nothing more to take.” "Her kids had no idea (about Shah's telemarketing scheme) so this must be so awful to see their mom be scrutinized in public," the nurse, Leah Sterneker, said. "Shah worked hard to make as much money for herself at the expense of vulnerable people," Sobelman said. "People should not confuse the character she played on an entertainment show with the person I have before me," he said. this was before she began committing the crimes." "I was describing her selling seminars teaching people how to be good in business … "She was here in New York half a year telling people how to do this." "I have to come to terms that I have gone against these core values and I am deeply sorry for what I have done," Shah continued. "Some of them would have liked to be here today but are not comfortable traveling due to their age and Covid-19." "I don’t know if she appreciates the harm she has caused, I hope she has, I heard the words," Stein said. It was less than I expected," said "Housewives" fan and Long Island resident Danielle Infanger, who doesn't expect Shah to be the last reality TV star to run afoul with the law. "I thought her sentence was going to be way higher, closer to 10 years," said Payehouse, 32.

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Image courtesy of "Forbes"

'Real Housewives' Star Jen Shah Sentenced To 6.5 Years In Prison ... (Forbes)

After she was arrested, Shah used the catchphrase “the only thing I'm guilty of is being Shah-mazing” on the show.

Last month, Todd and Julie Chrisley, the stars of the USA Network’s Chrisley Knows Best were sentenced to a combined 19 years in prison after being found guilty of bank and tax fraud. Just one week before the trial was supposed to start, Shah pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. [said](https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/reality-show-cast-members-charged-running-nationwide-telemarketing-fraud-scheme) Shah and Smith “defrauded hundreds of victims” and “generated and sold ‘lead lists’ of innocent individuals for other members of their scheme to repeatedly scam” adding they “built their opulent lifestyle at the expense of vulnerable, often elderly, working-class people.” Smith has not yet been sentenced, and several others who were charged in the scheme pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to several years in prison. After she was arrested, Smith pleaded guilty in November and was expected to testify at Shah’s trial, which had been delayed several times. Shah, who has starred on her Real Housewives franchise since it premiered in 2020, is known for being over-the-top and combative, making her a fan favorite. “Reality TV has nothing to do with reality, even my tagline,” she said through tears, according to

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Image courtesy of "ABC News"

'Real Housewives of Salt Lake City' star Jen Shah sentenced to 6 1 ... (ABC News)

Shah pleaded guilty in July 2022 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. ... The reality star's criminal charges stem from an alleged telemarketing scheme and she's ...

"Ms. "Despite the defendant's best efforts, she got caught. Jen will pay her debt to society and when she is a free woman again, she vows to pay her debt to the victims harmed by her mistakes." "It's not as if she simply sent a computer file to someone." "I am profoundly and deeply sorry," Shah said. "No victim ever earned any of the promised returns." "She was too important. Shah's life she will remember their names," Chaudhry said of the victims. Shah knows she has devastated the lives of so many." Chaudhry said Shah is no longer selling the items and has saved the proceeds for restitution. People should not confuse, and this court is not going to confuse, the character she plays on an entertainment show with the person I have before me." She must also pay restitution to victims of the nationwide telemarketing scheme that prosecutors said targeted elderly, vulnerable victims.

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Image courtesy of "Vulture"

Jen Shah's Last-Minute Plea and All the Questions It Raises (Vulture)

Real Housewives of Salt Like City star Jen Shah has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering after insisting on her innocence ...

“Usually prosecutors will make a last best final offer and give a preview of what the offer will be if they have to start trial.” Filming for the new season began in March 2022, but it is unclear how much of the show will focus on the trial and her plea. In the US, one has a right to trial and is presumed innocent until proven guilty.” “It’s not unusual for the government and defendants to continue negotiating up to the start of trial and sometimes even after a trial has begun and witnesses have testified,” Slaten said. Slaten wasn’t surprised that Shah ultimately decided to change her plea, considering the charges of conspiracy to wire fraud and money laundering merely required the government to prove that Shah agreed to do something illegal as part of the conspiracy. The U.S Attorney’s office maintained that while Shah portrayed herself on the show as a “wealthy and successful businessperson,” she was actually participating in a fraudulent telemarketing scheme that generated lead lists of innocent people, many of them elderly, for other members of the conspiracy to contact and scam. He was frequently called on the show Shah’s “first assistant,” but at times Shah referred to him as her business partner. Later in the reunion, she tried to distance herself from him during the taping of the show’s reunion special, saying he wasn’t her partner, and after their respective indictments, Shah and Smith stopped communicating due to their legal cases. Baker, though, said she was shocked that Shah changed her plea at the last minute. “As a cooperating witness you are required, as part of any plea agreement with the federal government, to tell them everything that you know,” Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Troy Slaten said. Faced with the prospect of a drawn-out trial, the potential of a stiffer sentence, and the fact that it appeared Smith would testify against her, Shah changed her tune at the last minute and now faces up to 14 years in prison. Shah’s change of heart wasn’t all that surprising considering that the same day the 48-year-old reality star was arrested while filming her Bravo show and about to embark on a girls’ trip with the other Housewives to Vail, news broke that her longtime “first” assistant Stuart Smith, 43, had also been arrested.

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Image courtesy of "Variety"

Jen Shah, 'Real Housewives' Star, Sentenced to 6.5 Years in Prison (Variety)

Jen Shah of Bravo's 'The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City' received her prison sentence today in a federal court in New York City.

It appears Shah will head to prison without ever confessing her guilt to the “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” audience — which might be her most Shah-mazing trick of all. And most recently, for the past two seasons of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” the downfall of Erika Girardi — due to her estranged husband’s allegedly prolific financial crimes — have at last made that show riveting television. For the first half of the season, she appeared to will herself into being the show’s most carefree, high-spirited cast member, even as she faces prison and being separated from Coach Shah and her two sons. Everything!” That phrasing is revealing, of course, given the nature of Shah’s crimes — and who took what from whom, as the government proved. “HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!!!!!!” was her apparent reaction to the arrest of two of her colleagues in 2017. One victim became homeless; another describes being unable to care for her “critically ill” husband and father, and writes to Shah directly: “The burden you have caused me is overwhelming, I can’t even really put words to the amount of anguish you have caused.” In the memo, federal prosecutors state again and again that Shah was a “leader” in the telemarketing scam, which had been under investigation for years (long before Shah made her Bravo debut in November 2020). As for Shah’s specific crimes, for years, according to the government’s evidence, she bilked her victims by selling them worthless “coaching sessions” along with other products, such as tax preparation services. I have found solace in my volunteer work, with anti-racism organizations and the LGBT community.” With that, she addressed her family, apologizing to her son and to her late father. The federal court case against Shah has taken place in the Southern District of New York in front of Judge Sidney Stein since [she was arrested on March 30, 2021](https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/jen-shah-real-housewives-of-salt-lake-city-arrested-for-fraud-1234940962/) — much of which was captured on camera during filming of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.” She then thanked the judge, who immediately went to sentencing her to 78 months in prison. [tweets from Inner City Press](https://twitter.com/innercitypress/status/1611391376863764483): “She began on Hawaii, a land of elders.

Reality Show Cast Member Jennifer Shah Sentenced To 78 Months ... (Department of Justice)

SHAH previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “With today's ...

In addition to the prison term, SHAH, 49, of Salt Lake City, Utah, was sentenced to five years of supervised release. Sobelman, and Sheb Swett are in charge of the prosecution. She directed others to lie, she put businesses and bank accounts in the name of others, she required payment in cash, she instructed others to delete text messages and electronic documents, she moved some of her operations overseas, and she tried to put computers and other evidence beyond the reach of investigators. These individuals were lured in by false promises of financial security, but in reality, Shah and her co-conspirators defrauded them out of their savings and left them with nothing to show for it. From at least 2012 until her arrest in March 2021, SHAH was an integral leader of a wide-ranging, nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme that victimized thousands of innocent people. Stein to 78 months in prison for running a nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme.

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Image courtesy of "TIME"

Real Housewife Jen Shah Sentenced to 6.5 Years in Prison for Wire ... (TIME)

Shah appeared in Manhattan Federal Court on Friday for her sentencing, where U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein, who also presided over her guilty plea in July ...

I want to apologize by saying, I am doing all I can to earn the funds to pay restitution.” Her six-and-a-half years sentence is less than the 10-year sentence that federal prosecutors requested for the controversial reality star in a “People should not confuse the character she plays on an entertainment show to the person before me.” [Happiness Guru Beat Burnout](https://time.com/6244601/laurie-santos-happiness-professor-beats-burnout/?utm_source=roundup&utm_campaign=20230105) [She's Spent a Decade Fighting to Ban Nuclear Weapons.](https://time.com/6243350/beatrice-fihn-interview-ican-nuclear-war?utm_source=roundup&utm_campaign=20230105)The Stakes Are Only Getting Higher Stein, who also presided over her guilty plea in July 2022, handed down her sentence to a packed courtroom. Shah appeared in Manhattan Federal Court on Friday for her sentencing, where U.S.

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Image courtesy of "Los Angeles Times"

'Real Housewives' star Jen Shah sentenced to 6.5 years (Los Angeles Times)

Jen Shah, a cast member of 'The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,' has been sentenced to prison for wire fraud. She pleaded guilty in July.

She told a judge that in 2012 she took part in a massive telemarketing fraud for nearly a decade that prosecutors say cheated thousands of people nationwide. “Jen has faith in our justice system, understands that anyone who breaks the law will be punished, and accepts this sentence as just,” Chaudhry added. Stein announced that the reality star, 49, will serve a sentence of 6½ years in prison, the My actions have hurt innocent people.” “I am deeply sorry for what I’ve done. In a Manhattan courtroom, U.S.

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Image courtesy of "Reuters"

Jen Shah of 'Real Housewives of Salt Lake City' gets 6.5 years for ... (Reuters)

Reality TV star Jen Shah was sentenced to 6-1/2 years in prison on Friday after pleading guilty to running a nationwide telemarketing scam that bilked ...

Shah initially denied the allegations after her arrest in March 2021 and sold merchandise attesting to her innocence. Shah, 49, began selling leads on people susceptible to scams to telemarketers around 2012 and later ran her own sales floor where underlings cold-called elderly victims offering bogus business opportunities, according to court documents. Register for free to Reuters and know the full story

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Image courtesy of "WJCT NEWS"

Jen Shah, 'Real Housewives' star, sentenced to 6 1/2 years for ... (WJCT NEWS)

Shah, 49, had previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing. In addition to her prison stint, U.S. ...

Shah also intentionally sold contact information for those victims to others in the larger fraud ring. Victims of the fraud were convinced to invest in bogus business opportunities and spend money on services, such as web design help or tax preparation. The scheme lasted from 2012 until she and her assistant Stuart Smith were arrested in March 2021. "Jen has faith in our justice system, understands that anyone who breaks the law will be punished, and accepts this sentence as just.," Chaudry said in a statement. "With today's sentence, Jennifer Shah finally faces the consequences of the many years she spent targeting vulnerable, elderly victims. Stein also ordered her to pay more than $6.6 million in restitution and to forfeit $6.5 million, 30 luxury items and 78 counterfeit luxury items.

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Image courtesy of "The Sydney Morning Herald"

'Real Housewives' star sentenced to jail for telemarketing scam (The Sydney Morning Herald)

Prosecutors said the American star targeted “vulnerable, elderly victims” for years and went to extraordinary efforts to conceal her crime.

At her direction, “victims were defrauded over and over again until they had nothing left,” prosecutors said. She pleaded guilty earlier to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Reality TV star Jen Shah has been sentenced to 6½ years in prison for running a nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme in the United States that prosecutors said targeted “vulnerable, elderly victims” and was accompanied by extraordinary efforts to conceal her crime.

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Image courtesy of "NBC News"

'Real Housewives' star Jen Shah sentenced to 6.5 years in prison for ... (NBC News)

Live coverage and latest updates on the sentencing of Real Housewives' Salt Lake City star Jen Shah for wire fraud.

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Image courtesy of "ABC News"

Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jennifer Shah sentenced to ... (ABC News)

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City's Jennifer Shah gets prison time for defrauding people in a telemarketing scam.

that I did nothing wrong," she said. "I have no-one to blame but myself. Justice Stein said that person was "simply a character. She apologised to the "innocent people" she said she'd hurt and pledged to pay $US6.5 million in restitution and forfeiture when she gets out of prison. In a pre-sentence submission, prosecutors said she used profits from the fraud to live a life of luxury that included a nearly 10,000-square-foot mansion with eight fireplaces dubbed "Shah Ski Chalet". - Shah was the leader of a "clear and brazen fraud" from 2012 to March 2021, prosecutors say

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Image courtesy of "The Straits Times"

US reality TV star Jen Shah sentenced to 6½ years in prison for ... (The Straits Times)

She admitted to luring thousands of elderly victims into draining their bank accounts. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Shah pleaded guilty a week before trial and said on Friday that the money she made selling “Justice For Jen Shah” apparel will go to victims. In a tagline for the second season of the show, Shah declared: “The only thing I’m guilty of is being Shah-mazing.” Standing before a packed courtroom in federal court in Manhattan, the 49-year-old said through tears that she was “profoundly and deeply sorry” and had “deluded” herself into believing she was doing nothing wrong.

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Image courtesy of "10 News First"

Reality Star Jen Shah Sentenced To Six-And-A-Half Years In Prison ... (10 News First)

Reality T.V. star Jen Shah, known for her role on Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, has been sentenced to 6-and-a-half years in jail for wire fraud.

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