Jen Shah, The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Star, Pleads Guilty to Fraud Following Telemarketing Scandal
Jen Shah, the controversial star of Bravo's The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, has changed her plea in a telemarketing scheme scandal.
The reality TV star appeared in a New York court on Monday and switched her original plea of not guilty to guilty of fraud and money laundering charges.
According to a Twitter thread from Inner City Press' Matthew Russell Lee, Shah told Judge Sidney H. Stein she had committed "Wire fraud, offering services with little to no value."
"We used interstate telephones and emails. I knew many of the purchasers were over the age of 55. I am so sorry," the 48-year-old reportedly said.
The judge is said to have questioned things being purchased. Shah allegedly explained that she had offered "misrepresentations, regarding the value of the product or service, of which it had little to none."
"Did you know it was wrong and illegal?" the judge responded.
"Yes, your Honor," the thread states.
The change of plea comes narrowly ahead of a trial, which will no longer proceed.
Shah, who appeared in the first two seasons of RHOSLC, faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.
The star was arrested in March 2021, alongside her assistant, Stuart Smith.
The arrest and aftermath was a hot topic on the reality series, and it was reported that Bravo started shooting Season 3 earlier to get all of the footage before the trial.
"Jennifer Shah, who portrays herself as a wealthy and successful businessperson on 'reality' television, and Stuart Smith, who is portrayed as Shah's 'first assistant,' allegedly generated and sold 'lead lists' of innocent individuals for other members of their scheme to repeatedly scam," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said last year in a press release.
"In actual reality and as alleged, the so-called business opportunities pushed on the victims by Shah, Smith, and their co-conspirators were just fraudulent schemes, motivated by greed, to steal victims' money. Now, these defendants face time in prison for their alleged crimes."
Shah had initially maintained her innocence since the arrest.
“I will fight because No. 1, I’m innocent and No. 2, I’m going to f–king represent every other person out there that can’t fight and hasn’t been able to,” Shah said earlier this year during the reunion for Season 2.
Bravo has yet to comment on the guilty verdict, but it's hard to imagine them not using the footage already filmed for Season 3.
Shah will be sentenced on November 28, according to reports.