Jen Shah Sentencing Live Updates: ‘Real Housewives’ star on trial for wire fraud and money laundering

Jen Shah Sentencing Live Updates: ‘Real Housewives’ star on trial for wire fraud and money laundering

 

Feds say Shah should serve 10 years in prison after guilty plea to wire fraud

The Justice Department is seeking a decade in prison for “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star Jane Shah, who is due to be sentenced before Jan. 6 for running a nationwide telemarketing scheme targeting senior citizens, according to newly filed court documents. According to, that includes previously unreported victims. He betrayed the impression statements of some elderly people.

Shah, 49, is “the most culpable individual charged in this case,” and “an integral leader of a wide-ranging, nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme that victimized thousands of innocent people,” the December 23 filing said.

“At defendant’s direction, the victims were repeatedly defrauded until they were left with nothing,” wrote Damian Williams, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. “He and his 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.”

How much time will Shah actually spend behind bars?

There is no parole in the federal prison system and good behavior credits are in short supply compared to most states.

The best case scenario for any federal inmate would be to receive a little less than 15% of his sentence through good time credits.

Therefore, out of a sentence of 36 months (3 years), Shah may have to spend 30 1/2 months behind bars. A sentence of 120 months (10 years) could mean 8 1/2 years in prison.

If he is sentenced to jail, what happens next?

It would be highly unlikely that Judge Stein would remand Shah – a non-violent offender who is already out on bail – to custody immediately after sentencing.

More likely, Shah will be given a date of at least a month to surrender himself at a federal facility.

After sentencing, Shah’s fate falls into the hands of the Bureau of Prisons.

Most of the offenders want to stay close to home and the closest women’s facilities to Salt Lake City would be FCI Dublin, or FCI Phoenix, east of San Francisco. But there’s no way to tell immediately whether Shah’s as-yet-determined security classification will fit any of those facilities.

His best hope for a minimum security camp would be considered the most appropriate.

NBC News legal analyst Danny Cevallos said, “If he gets three years, and he’s pure white-collar and there’s no violence involved, then camp has a good shot.”

“A minimum-security camp, I mean even going up to the next level, which is still ‘low security,’ that’s a big difference. If you’re eligible for a camp, you can go to Alaska if you’re a You can go camping.”

Jessica Chastain: “I feel bad for everybody”

Oscar winner and “Housewives” fan Jessica Chastain expressed sympathy for Shah on Thursday night’s “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen” on Bravo.

Cohen put Chastain on the spot, asking her thoughts about Shah, and the actor said she was thinking about Shah’s sons who may have been without their mother for a long time.

“I feel bad for everyone involved. There’s a family and a little boy. It’s sad,” Chastain said.

Cohen referenced Shah again later in “WWHL”, which showed “Salt Lake City” footage of law enforcement agents approaching the cast in search of their suspect.

“Salt Lake City” airs on Wednesday nights and at the end of the most recent show, a clip teased for the next episode. Shah was shown cursing at his co-defendant and one-time assistant Stuart Smith, who admitted his crime.

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