'Real Housewives' star Jen Shah tearfully apologized in court before she was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison for fraud scheme
Seth Wenig/AP Photo
- "Real Housewives" star Jen Shah was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison on Friday.
- Shah pleaded guilty in July to taking part in a telemarketing scheme targeting older individuals.
- Shah is a star of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City." She has a husband and two sons.
A federal judge sentenced Jen Shah, one of the stars of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City," to 6.5 years in prison in connection to a fraud scheme on Friday.
"My actions have hurt innocent people," Shah said apologized in court ahead of her sentencing. "I want to apologize by saying, I am doing all I can to earn the funds to pay restitution."
"I am profoundly and deeply sorry," she added to her family, through tears.
Shah, wearing a camel-colored outfit, entered the courtroom on Friday alongside her husband, children, and other family members who all sat in the front row, NBC reported.
Shah was arrested in March 2021 on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Prosecutors accused Shah of participating in a decade-long telemarketing fraud scheme targeting "hundreds" of victims, largely over the age of 55. They said Shah generated "lead lists" of victims for other individuals in the scheme to target.
While Shah initially pleaded not guilty to the two charges, in July she took a plea deal and pleaded guilty to the wire fraud charge. The second charge was then dropped by prosecutors.
"I knew this was wrong," Shah told US District Judge Sidney Stein at her change of plea hearing in July.
As part of her agreement with prosecutors, she agreed to forfeit $6.5 million and pay restitution up to $9.5 million.
Prosecutors suggested an 11-14 year prison sentence in the agreement, though the final sentence is always in the hands of the judge. The charge Shah pleaded guilty to has a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in prison.
In pre-sentencing filings, the US Probation department suggested an eight-year sentence, while Shah's lawyers said that a three-year sentence would be more appropriate. They argued she wasn't the "kingpin" of the scheme, and she didn't have direct contact with any of the victims.
Just four days before her sentencing, Shah posted pictures to Instagram Stories in support of her husband Sharrieff Shah at the Rose Bowl, according to E! News. Sharrieff is a special teams coordinator and cornerbacks coach for the University of Utah's football team, which lost to Penn State in the bowl game. The Shahs have two sons, Sharieff Shah Jr., 28, and Omar Shah, who is a senior in high school.
Even after her arrest, Shah continued to take part in season three of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City," which premiered in September. But she skipped the reunion episode, writing on Instagram that it was because she refused to talk about her legal case.