The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah – who, over the summer, pleaded guilty on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud – is requesting a lighter prison sentence.
Shah faces federal charges over her role in an alleged telemarketing scheme that defrauded hundreds of victims, many of them elderly.
“I knew this was wrong. I knew people were harmed,” Shah said in court at her July hearing. “I am so sorry.”
Per her plea agreement, the reality star faces up to 14 years in federal prison (plus more than $9 million in restitution); but according to court documents reviewed by Page Six, Shah is asking for three.
In a sentencing submission filed on Friday, Shah’s attorney, Priya Chaudhry, argued that a three-year sentence would be “just and fair” because it “takes into account Ms. Shah’s history and characteristics,” as well as the “facts and circumstances” of her offense.
Shah’s legal team argued that her sentence should be reduced because the reality star had had no “direct contact” with her alleged victims.
Lawyers for RHOSLC’s Jen Shah describe the ‘psychological toll’ of her case
In the court filing, Shah’s attorneys emphasized that the case had “already cost” the reality star, 49, significantly. It has also, they argued, caused “embarrassment, fear, and shame” for her husband, University of Utah football coach Sharrieff Shah, 51, and their two sons, Sharrieff Jr., 28, and Omar, 19.
The reality star would “never do anything to risk more harm to her children,” her attorney wrote, adding that Shah knows the “emotional and psychological toll” her legal struggles have already taken on her sons.
Shah’s lawyer insisted she “desperately wanted to be the best mother in the world.”
She also submitted her own statement in which she accepted responsibility for what she described as her bad business decisions.
“My poor judgement and bad business associations caused innocent people to lose their money,” she wrote in the three-page statement, which, according to the outlet, has been largely redacted. The Bravo personality wrote that she was “genuinely sorry” and will “work for the rest of my life to make it right.”
Shah went on to explain how the experience of losing her father and grandmother had clouded her judgment before adding how being cast on RHOSLC had given her a “real chance to escape” her previous business dealings.
When is Jen Shah’s sentencing?
Shah’s sentence will be handed down on January 6, 2023. After her very public arrest in March 2021 – while filming Season 2 of RHOSLC – Shah at first maintained her innocence but then abruptly changed course and entered a guilty plea just days before she was set to stand trial.
The star’s request for a shorter sentence came the same day she announced she would not be attending the RHOSLC Season 3 reunion.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.