What to Know
- “Real Housewives” star Jen Shah was sentenced to 6.5 years in jail in NYC federal court docket in reference to a sweeping nationwide fraud scheme; prosecutors had wished 10-plus years
- Jen Shah’s legal professional, although, says she ought to spend not more than three years behind bars. The decide got here down within the center — and likewise ordered her to forfeit greater than $6 million in addition to pay greater than $6.6 million in restitution, amongst different measures
- She beforehand pleaded responsible to a conspiracy cost for collaborating in a near-decade lengthy wire fraud scheme, one which primarily focused aged victims
“Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star Jen Shah was sentenced Friday to 78 months — or 6.5 years — in jail in Manhattan federal court docket Friday for defrauding hundreds of individuals nationwide in a telemarketing rip-off, a lot of them older. The decide gave her much less time than prosecutors wished, however greater than the protection had sought.
U.S. District Decide Sidney H. Stein, who presided over her responsible plea in July to a conspiracy cost for collaborating in an enormous fraud for almost a decade, additionally handed down Friday’s sentencing.
At first of her listening to, Stein stated he would not sentence Shah to the 11 years or extra really useful by federal sentencing pointers, however he additionally stated he would not grant a protection request that she solely spend three years in jail.
The decide got here down within the center — and likewise ordered Shah to forfeit $6,500,000, 30 luxurious objects (and 78 counterfeit luxurious objects) and to pay $6,645,251 in restitution. She has to finish 5 years’ post-release supervision as properly.
Previous to asserting his choice, Stein cautioned a packed courtroom that he was not sentencing the one that individuals see on tv.
That particular person is “merely a personality. It is performing,” Stein said, adding that the housewives program “includes role-playing … It is a closely scripted operation.”
The 49-year-old Salt Lake-born Shah pulled as much as the Manhattan federal courthouse Friday morning in a black SUV, then was escorted rapidly inside. Sporting a tan coat and cellphone in hand, Shah hid her face with a Cheetah-print pockets briefly and stated nothing as reporters barraged her with questions and cameras on her manner into the constructing.
“With right now’s sentence, Jennifer Shah lastly faces the results of the numerous years she spent focusing on susceptible, aged victims,” Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said. “These people have been lured in by false guarantees of economic safety, however in actuality, Shah and her co-conspirators defrauded them out of their financial savings and left them with nothing to indicate for it.
“This conviction and sentence demonstrate once again that we will continue to vigorously protect victims of financial fraud and hold accountable those who engage in fraudulent schemes,” Williams added.
He praised Homeland Safety Investigations’ El Dorado Activity Drive for its help within the investigation.
Prosecutors stated in a presentence submission that Shah used earnings from her fraud to dwell a lifetime of luxurious that included an almost 10,000-square-foot mansion with eight fireplaces dubbed “Shah Ski Chalet” within the resort haven of Park Metropolis, Utah. The house, they stated, is now listed on the market for $7.4 million.
It is sentencing day for the previous “Real Housewives” star. Here is uncooked footage of her arriving to the courthouse in midtown Manhattan forward of Friday’s listening to.
They stated she additionally rented an condo in midtown Manhattan, leased a Porsche Panamera, purchased a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars} price of luxurious items and funded varied beauty procedures whereas dishonest the Inside Income Service of a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars}.
Prosecutors attacked her habits after her arrest on March 30, 2021, saying Shah lied to regulation enforcement in a voluntarily recorded interview earlier than happening a reputation-cleansing public marketing campaign by which she “repeatedly, vehemently, and falsely proclaimed her innocence.”
The federal government stated she additionally appeared to mock the costs towards her by claiming that the “solely factor I am responsible of is being Shah-mazing” and then she profited from it by marketing “Justice for Jen” merchandise after her arrest as she directed others to lie whereas attempting to hide her conduct from investigators.
In court docket, Shah stated that she was “sincerely remorseful” and added that “reality TV has nothing to do with reality.”
“I am deeply sorry for what I’ve done. My actions hurt innocent people,” she informed the courtroom.
Whereas in public and on the truth present, Shah maintained her innocence, prosecutors stated that she solely pleaded responsible as a result of they’d a mountain of proof towards her.
The fraud, authorities stated, stretched from 2012 to March 2021 as bogus providers have been promoted as enabling individuals to make substantial quantities of cash by means of on-line companies. Assistant U.S. Legal professional Robert Sobelman informed the court docket that Shah was the pinnacle of the telemarketing scheme that offered non-existent providers, particularly focusing on older people, after which fought their efforts to get refunds.
“Shah worked hard to make as much money for herself at the expense of vulnerable people,” prosecutors said.
In the meantime, protection attorneys minimized Shah’s position within the fraud of their presentence submission to the decide, saying there have been “many, many individuals” concerned within the long-lasting telemarketing scheme that led so many people to purchase nugatory providers from firms by which Shah was concerned.
They wrote that the fraud was “a mistake that has not solely ruined her personal life, however has damaged her coronary heart as she has watched the harm that her actions have brought about.”
It was carried out, the legal professionals stated, “as part of an industry operating with a fine line between what is legal and illegal.”
“Ms. Shah was involved in both the legitimate and fraudulent sides of this industry,” her legal professionals stated.
Noting that one particular person already sentenced within the fraud acquired greater than seven years in jail, the legal professionals stated Shah wasn’t like codefendants who (*6*)
They added: “Before she committed these acts, Ms. Shah’s entire life, for more than four decades, was marked by hard, honest work, respectable achievement, and a hard-earned reputation for true generosity.”
Shah will give up to the Bureau of Prisons on Feb. 17. She requested to be despatched to a minimum-security federal jail camp close to Houston.
“Now is the time to project humility” James Leonard Jr. informed Derek Zagami on RealiTea with Derek Z.
‘Actual Housewives’ Drama
Shah has been one of many principal stars of the most recent iteration of “Real Housewives,” which debuted in late 2020.
Throughout a reunion particular in early 2020, Shah tried to clarify what precisely she did for a dwelling, after a few of her associates stated they did not even perceive it themselves.
“My background is in direct response marketing for about 20 years, so our company does advertising. We have a platform that helps people acquire customers, so when you’re shopping online or on the internet, and something pops, we have the algorithm behind why you’re getting served that ad,” Shah said, in line with a Bravo recap of the present.
Her “Real Housewives” bio described Shah as “queen of her house and her businesses as the CEO of three marketing companies.”
Disclosure: “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” airs on Bravo, which like WNBC is a unit of NBC Common.