‘Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’ Star Jen Shah Sentenced to 6.5 Years in Federal Prison

Jen Shah, one of the stars of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, has been sentenced to serve 6.5 years, or 78 months, in federal prison for her role in orchestrating a telemarketing fraud scheme. Shah and her attorneys were seeking a three-year sentence. 

“My intention is to impose a sentence of 78 months of incarceration and other conditions. Any formal objection to the procedure? Guideline range [from] 135 to 168 months. I sentence you to 78 months,” Judge Sidney H. Stein sentenced, according to Inner City Press. Shah was also sentenced to serve an additional five years of supervised release. 

On March 30, 2021, while filming an episode of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, Shah was arrested on two counts related to running a national telemarketing scheme that targeted the elderly and computer illiterate people. Stuart Smith, Shah’s former assistant and close friend who frequently appeared on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City with her, was also arrested on March 30 and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. Smith initially pleaded not guilty but switched to a guilty plea in November 2021, also pleading guilty to an additional charge of obstructing justice, admitting to participating in a “wide-ranging telemarketing scheme” that defrauded hundreds of victims, many of them elderly. Smith is awaiting sentencing. The Justice Department advocated for 10 years in prison for Shah, claiming that the reality star was “the most culpable person charged in this case” and “an integral leader of a wide-ranging telemarketing fraud scheme that victimized thousands of innocent people,” in a December 2022 filing. 

Despite all this, Shah stuck with her “not guilty” plea and publicly maintained her innocence on social media and the show, even going so far as to sell merchandise with the slogan “#FreeJenShah” through a third-party vendor. However, on July 11, 2022, Shah struck a deal with federal prosecutors and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, while the money laundering charge was dropped. The count carried a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, but her plea deal came with a recommended sentence of anywhere between 11 and 14 years. 

Per Inner City Press’s Matthew Russell Lee, the 70-seat courtroom was packed for Shah’s sentencing. “Jen Shah’s role on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, which I guess is why the courtroom is so full today, is just that, a role,” said Judge Stein. “People should not confuse the character she plays on an entertainment show to the person before me.” During the sentencing, Shah, who carried a leopard print clutch that matched the leopard print boots she was wearing the day she was arrested, said that she would pay restitution to all of her victims and that the profits from her “Free Jen Shah” merchandise would be “devoted to the victims,” according to Lee. “I am sorry. My actions have hurt innocent people. I want to apologize by saying, I am doing all I can to earn the funds to pay restitution,” said Shah. Per the sentencing, Shah will also forfeit $6.5 million and pay restitution up to $9.5 million. 

“Jen Shah deeply regrets the mistakes that she has made and is profoundly sorry to the people she has hurt. Jen has faith in our justice system, understands that anyone who breaks the law will be punished, and accepts this sentence as just,” said Shah’s lawyer Priya Chaudhry in a statement. “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.”

Shah must surrender to prison on February 17, 2023.