Jen Shah Sentenced: Everything We Know

Shah-tencing day is here. The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah is being sentenced today in New York City after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud after allegedly defrauding the elderly via a telemarketing scheme.

Several victims have since spoken out about how their lives were ruined due to Jen’s actions, including a woman who had a restraining order taken out on the Bravo star in 2019 and ones who were interviewed in the Hulu special The Housewife & the Shah Shocker.

What we know right now:

• Jen arrived at the courthouse at approximately 8:20 am, with her husband and sons in tow. They entered the courtroom at 9:55am. Several other family members have also joined them.

 

• Several fans have arrived to watch the sentencing, to the point where another room was opened to accommodate everyone.

 

• Court is now in session with Judge Sidney Stein presiding.

 

• As per NBC News: A probation report urged Stein to sentence Shah to 72 months in prison — almost halfway between the government’s recommendation of 10 years and the defense request for 36 months.

 

• Jen will serve 78 months in prison with five years of supervised release. She will report to federal prison on February 17th.

Jen’s defense attorney Priya Chaudry’s statements:

• “Every day since she has plead guilty, she has read names and prayed for forgiveness but she cannot forgive herself. She understands she cannot undo these things and the things she has caused their families but she does acknowledge today is about justice.”

 

• “We are here for one reason: the innocent people who have suffered”

 

• “We know hundreds more have lost so much, their confidence, the security of their savings, they lost sleep and their dreams … so many of these people had very little to begin with and now they struggle even more.”

 

• “The (victims) worked hard and tried their best and their lives are forever mangled now,” the attorney said. “For the rest of Ms. Shah’s life, she will remember their names.”

 

• “Ms. Shah was lost for months in an echo chamber of her own denial.”

 

• “She found herself staring at her truth and the depth of her wrongs and she hurt them and they were real and there was no more lying.”

 

• “Shah is eager to pay her debt to society and when she is a free woman again she will pay her debts to the victims and she promises to set an example.”

 

• “People have watched her ruin her life and ruin the lives of other families and the punishment is very personal and real.”

 

• “There was nothing good in that,” she said when Jen was called out for her actions by the judge.  “I was describing her selling seminars teaching people how to be good in business … this was before she began committing the crimes.”

 

Statements from Prosecutor Robert Sobelman:

• “She ran her own floor and trained and hired people here in Manhattan for years. She was here in New York half a year telling people how to do this.”

• He also claimed she was “committing crimes day in and day out” and making money off people who had little to give, according to the government.

 

• “Shah worked hard to make as much money for herself at the expense of vulnerable people. Every cooperating witness said the person with the most power was Jen Shah.”

• “We think a 120-month sentence would be appropriate. She was concerned about herself.”

 

• “To us these were not numbers, these are older vulnerable people whose lives were turned upside down by the defendant’s telemarketing scam and they still suffer.  Some of them would have liked to be here today but are not comfortable traveling due to their age and Covid-19.”

Judge Stein’s Reaction:

• “What good things could she have been doing, calling elderly people and selling them business opportunities and they would max out their credit cards and get the person to put down an additional credit card and then upsell them for other products? If there is good in that I want to hear it.”

 

• “No victim ever earned promised returns and they suffered financial and emotional devastation as their lives were turned upside down.”

 

• “I don’t know if she appreciates the harm she has caused, I hope she has, I heard the words. Those people have no way of being made full again … If they are financially, they won’t be emotionally.”

 

• “I do wish you luck. I know you can put this behind you and when you get out you can rebuild your life.”