As we all saw last during the premiere of RHOSLC, Jen Shah was arrested a mere 12 minutes after leaving the Beauty Lab + Laser parking lot. While we will have to wait to see how this all plays out on our TV, and in real life — like, will Jen Shah go to jail? — there is plenty of information out there on the case for us to sink our teeth into.
The United States Attorney's Office posted a press release on the day of the arrest, March 30, 2021. Manhattan Attorney Audrey Strauss states...
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. 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.
Both Shah and Smith are "charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing...which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years."
On April 2, Shah pleaded not guilty to all charges. At this hearing, the judge set the bail at $1 million, with two weeks to pay a required $250,000 bond in "cash or property." In June, Shah filed for her case to be dismissed due to her waiving her Miranda rights involuntarily as a result of alleged manipulation from law enforcement. This petition was denied. The trial was originally set for Oct. 18, 2021 but has been moved back to March 7, 2022 due to COVID-19 and the Delta variant.
Now that we know all the facts of the case, will she go to jail? According criminal defense lawyer, Brandon Sample, her case is very serious and she will owe a lot of money on top of jail time if she is found guilty. He told HollywoodLife that although the maximum sentence is 30 years for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and 20 years for money laundering, Jen's sentence will most likely be shorter, should she be found guilty. Sample stated that, "the Court has the power to run the sentences consecutive; however, it rarely happens. I expect that if the government is able to determine her guilt, the sentence in the case would be most likely 5 – 10 years, but that is just a guess...”
Sharen Ghatan, a criminal defense lawyer in California, also weighed in saying that there's a possibility of no jail time. She told HollywoodLife that "... It’s especially concerning that there are other defendants. It’s highly likely that someone will rat someone else out. [Jen] Shah should use any inside knowledge to better her situation and bargain down to a lesser offense or best yet, a dismissal, in exchange for information about a ‘bigger fish.'”
Given all of that information, let's just hope Bravo is ready on the sidelines come March 2022. Live from the Bravo Clubhouse, on location in at the trial of Jen Shah, anyone?
Images: Steven Hirsch