Jen Shah may spend 10 yrs in prison for $5M telemarketing scam if judge is on same page with feds
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH: 'RHOSLC' star Jen Shah may be sentenced to 10 years in prison rather than the maximum of 14 on January 6, 2023, when she is formally sentenced on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Federal prosecutors requested that the judge sentence the disgraced 49-year-old to 10 years in prison for planning a $5M telemarketing scam that preyed on thousands of elderly people nationwide in a long Justice Department court file on Saturday, December 24.
As per Daily Mail, in July, Shah and her ex-'first' assistant Stuart Smith admitted to the crime they committed when they misrepresented their intentions to give their victims the resources they needed to launch their own e-commerce businesses between 2012 and 2021. The fact that Shah, whose slogan was, "The only thing I'm guilty of is being Shah-mazing," first tried to "conceal her role in the scheme" while seeking to "profit off the charges by selling "Justice for Jen" merchandise," has been cited by prosecutors.
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"At the defendant's direction, victims were defrauded over and over again until they had nothing left," US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams stated in the filing, as per NBC News, adding, "She and her co-conspirators persisted in their conduct until the victims' bank accounts were empty, their credit cards were at their limits, and there was nothing more to take." The file contained five impact statements from victims who, after losing their entire life savings (from $10,000 to $100,000), suffered heart attacks, lost their homes and even considered killing themselves. The victims' ages ranged from 60 to 75.
Shah, who must also pay $9.5M in restitution, and her husband of 28 years Sharrieff, have each begged the judge for leniency, asking for just three years in prison. She will reportedly not be a part of the Season 3 reunion "under legal advice." CGEM Talent signed Shah on November 29 for representation "in all areas" despite her legal difficulties.