Jennifer Shah faces 168 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing. 

 

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star appeared before the U.S. District Court Judge Sidney Stein in Manhattan on Monday July 11, 2022.

 

Shah was arrested in March of 2021 for having a role in a telemarketing scheme which targeted hundreds of people, specifically those over the age of 55. The arrest was captured by Bravo later that year. 

 

Shah’s arrest was the biggest storyline during season 2 of the RHOSLC; at the reunion she doubled down on her innocence. “I am fighting this. I am innocent. And I will fight for every person out there who can’t fight for themselves because they don’t have the resources or the means, so they don’t fight.”

 

The Bravolebrity’s assistant, Stuart Smith, was arrested just before her, to which he pleaded guilty. According to Page Six Smith was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of obstructing an official proceeding. He originally pleaded not guilty, but then changed his plea to guilty and agreed to testify against Shah.

 

Over the course of the year Shah attempted to convince the audience that she was innocent of any wrongdoing, and she almost got away with it. But in the words of Andy Cohen, “The success rate of the New York State Attorney is like 95%.”

 

Originally Shah pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. She was set to stand trial on July 18, but she changed her previous not guilty plea just one week before. Shah’s new plea deal involves dropping the second charge. Shah has agreed to forfeit $6.5 million and she has to pay up to $9.5 million in restitution. Her sentencing is now set for Fall 2022, where she may face up to 11 and 14 years in prison. 

 

Shah said she knew it was wrong and illegal, “many people were harmed and I’m so sorry.” She continued by saying there was a “misrepresentation of the product, regarding the value of the service,” noting it “had little to no value.”

 

Priya Chaudhry, her attorney, told NBC News her client pleaded guilty “because she wants to pay her debt to society and put this ordeal behind her and her family.”