Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah is set to be sentenced in January (Picture: Bravo)
The US government has requested for Jen Shah to get a 10-year jail sentence, it has been claimed.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star is currently awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to fraud and money laundering charges in July.
RHOSLC viewers were left reeling when the 49-year-old suddenly left filming ahead of a cast trip, moments before detectives arrived on the scene – with the dramatic footage appearing in season two.
Ahead of the hearing, taking place on January 6, 2023, the government has reportedly recommended that she should spend 120 months behind bars.
In court documents, obtained by People Magazine, officials filed a memo on Friday, claiming that she ‘engaged in a years-long, comprehensive effort to hide her continued role in the scheme’.
The government also alleged that she ‘took a series of increasingly extravagant steps to conceal her criminal conduct from the authorities’.
Her legal issues played out on RHOSLC (Picture: Bravo)
The documents reportedly read: ‘For nearly a decade, the defendant was an integral leader of a wide-ranging, nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme that victimized thousands of innocent people. Many of those people were elderly or vulnerable.
‘Many of those people suffered significant financial hardship and damage. At the defendant’s direction, victims were defrauded over and over again until they had nothing left. 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.’
Shah is ‘the most culpable person charged in this case,’ according to the paperwork, which claims that her ‘belated expressions of remorse ring hollow’.
According to the outlet, the government described a 10-year sentence as ‘sufficient’, but it is not clear whether this will be taken into consideration.
The government has reportedly requested a 10-year sentence (Picture: Bravo)
It was alleged that the Bravo star and her former assistant, Stuart Smith, had been running a US-wide fraud scheme since 2012, selling services such as website designs that claimed to make the management of victims’ businesses more profitable or efficient, according to prosecutors.
They were also accused of offering to sell on the personal information of victims to other members in a ‘fraud ring’, with many of those targeted being over 55.
In July, Shah changed her plea to guilty after being charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing.
She is thought to have agreed to forfeit $6.5million and to pay up to $9.5million in restitution.
She recently confirmed that she would not be appearing at the reunion (Picture: Bravo)
Following the move, her future on RHOSLC was left in doubt and she later confirmed that she would not be taking part in the reunion.
Taking to Instagram, she shared a statement which read: ‘On September 14, 2022, I was informed by Bravo executives that I was not invited to attend the season 3 reunion.
‘I was disappointed because I would have no venue to confront inaccuracies and address my storyline with cast members.
‘Out of nowhere, on November 29, two and a half weeks ago, I was invited to attend. I was elated to learn I would now have a voice at reunion.
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‘I was clear with Bravo that out of respect for the courts and a standing judicial order, I would not be in a position to discuss anything related to my legal case or sentencing. Bravo found this unsatisfactory and said they expected to discuss this “storyline”.’
She added: ’That expectation has no regard for me or my family’s wellbeing; so under legal advice, I will not be attending reunion.
‘I need to focus on the most important thing in my life – my family [sic].’
Metro.co.uk has contacted Jen’s reps for a comment.
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She is set to be sentenced in January.
