Afrigather Jen Shah has been sentenced to 78 months (6.5 years) for her position in orchestrating a fraud scheme.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star appeared in a New York courtroom on Friday after pleading guilty to her position within the telemarketing conspiracy.
Shah’s husband Sharrieff and their sons, Sharrieff Jr. and Omar, have been within the courtroom as the choice was handed down.
Shah’s legal professional Priya Chaudhry issued an announcement to PEOPLE after the choice: “Jen Shah deeply regrets the errors that she has made and is profoundly sorry to the folks she has damage. Jen has religion in our justice system, understands that anybody who breaks the legislation will probably be punished, and accepts this sentence as simply. Jen pays her debt to society and when she is a free girl once more, she vows to pay her debt to the victims harmed by her errors.”
Earlier Friday morning, Decide Sidney Stein spoke to the packed courtroom. In line with Internal Metropolis Press’s Matthew Russell Lee, Decide Stein advised attendees: “Jen Shah’s position on The Actual Housewives of Salt Lake Metropolis, which I suppose is why the courtroom is so full right now, is simply that, a task. People should not confuse the character she plays on an entertainment show to the person before me.”
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When given her personal probability to talk, Lee reported that Shah stated, “I’m sorry. My actions have hurt innocent people. I wish to apologize by saying, I’m doing all I can to earn the funds to pay restitution.”
Earlier than Shah was sentenced, Assistant U.S. Legal professional Robert Sobelman known as her crimes “brazen fraud.” Per Lee, Sobelman added, “Each cooperator advised us, ‘Jen Shah is the boss.’ All of them knew who she was.”
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Earlier than that, Decide Stein had advised Chaudhry that her shopper “was a leader of this conspiracy,” in response to Lee. Decide Stein continued, “So this cuts towards you, not for you.”
Chaudhry later responded, “Jen has spent month studying the names of these she has damage. She has prayed for his or her forgiveness. However she can not forgive herself. Jen understands she can not undo the ache or repay them right now — however today is about justice for them. Measuring the ache.”
Explaining her shopper’s motives, she later stated, “Jen hoped that the TV highlight would cover her ache. She spent years making an attempt to cover her feeling, to pretend it till she make it. She tried to not see the individuals who misplaced cash. Her original fraud was on herself.”
Stein countered, “Her activity in this crime took place years before The Actual Housewives of Salt Lake Metropolis began. So you’re saying her starvation for trinkets predates the present?”
Chaudhry stated, partially: “Elders, her victims, are educating her. She regrets the mistakes she has made. She is sorry. She had religion in our justice system. Jen pays her debt to society.”
Chaudhry closed, “Ms. Shah will celebrate her 50th birthday in a federal prison. … Then she is going to attempt to make entire those that misplaced cash. She is going to as soon as once more make her elders proud.”
She stated later, “Longstanding untreated psychological points triggered me to create my own fractured reality. This is a crucible moment for me. With the correct medicine I can now see what occurred. I want I may have stood exterior myself. I’m sorry.”
Shah addressed her younger son and her father: “To my child Omar, Mommy is so sorry you have been woken up at gunpoint. My late father, I wish to inform him I’m sorry. I’m humbled by your love for me.”
With no additional phrases from Shah, Decide Stein declared, “My intention is to impose a sentence of 78 months of incarceration, and different circumstances.”
Shah’s sentence will begin on Feb. 17. Although Decide Stein wouldn’t specify the power on Friday, Shah will serve out her sentence someplace within the “Texas region.”
After she leaves jail, Decide Stein additionally ordered Shah to serve five years of supervised release “to be sure to don’t end up committing another crime,” stated Stein.
After the sentencing, Sharrieff walked as much as Jen to provide her a kiss and a hug. Exhibiting no emotion, she then walked into the stands and hugged her mom and her sons. Quickly after, the Shahs left the courthouse.
Shah, 49, and her assistant, Stuart Smith, have been arrested in March 2021 for spearheading a cellphone rip-off to defraud folks over the age of 55. Details later emerged about how the scheme claimed to supply tutoring course to organize the victims for a salaried gross sales place.
Even after Smith entered a guilty plea in November 2021, Shah continued to proclaim her innocence — till she entered right into a plea deal in July 2022 and admitted in courtroom to her position within the scheme.
This plea deal recommended Shah could be sentenced between 11 and 14 years in jail, although the U.S. authorities advocated for 10 years. Nevertheless, Shah asked for a reduced sentence of simply three years in a December request to the courtroom.
“The terrible business decisions I made {and professional} relationships I developed stemmed from some private painful experiences that I used to be going by way of in my life,” she wrote within the request, as reported by CNN.
Shah’s most sentence for the crime was 30 years — although she beforehand agreed not to appeal her case if her sentence was lower than 14 years.
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Court docket paperwork obtained by PEOPLE confirmed victim impact statements for Shah’s alleged wrongdoings. One man stated he “wasted about $40,000 making an attempt to do good for my household,” whereas one other stated they paid $100,000. Two of the victims who gave statements stated the rip-off drove them to homelessness.
Chaudhry advised PEOPLE on the time: “Ms. Shah is devastated by the struggling she has triggered these folks. She vows to dedicate her life to making an attempt to make every one entire.”
Shah did film some episodes of RHOSLC between her arrest and sentencing — although she didn’t movie the present’s upcoming season 3 reunion.
With reporting by Mary S. Park
