'Real Housewives' star Jen Shah to serve prison sentence in Texas
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A judge sentenced “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” cast member Jennifer Shah to 6 1/2 years in prison. Shah was convicted of defrauding thousands of people nationwide for nearly a decade in a telemarketing scam, many of whom were considered vulnerable or older.
U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein announced the sentence in a federal court in New York on Friday. Judge Stein ordered Shah to serve her sentence starting Feb. 17 in the Texas area.
Shah's team recommended she serve at a minimum-security prison in Texas, E! News reports. There's at least one prison in Texas matching her request. The Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, is a minimum-security federal prison for female offenders, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
After Shah's release, she'll serve five years of supervised release. She also pledged to pay $6.5 million in restitution and forfeiture when she gets out of prison, and she apologized to everyone cheated by the fraud.
The fraud, authorities said, stretched from 2012 to March 2021 as bogus services were promoted as enabling people to make substantial amounts of money through online businesses.
Shah is now at least the second 'Housewives' star to do prison time. 'Real Housewives of New Jersey' star Teresa Giudice was convicted of fraud in 2014 and served nearly a year for bankruptcy fraud.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.