Back in July, Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud.
She knew at the time that she would be facing prison time.
But now she’s pulling out all the stops in hopes of being locked up for a few years rather than a few decades.
Yes, it’ll be a tense holiday season for Jen, who is scheduled to be sentenced on January 6.
She could get locked up for 30 years, but Jen is hoping her plea deal will save her from that unfortunate fate.
In the meantime, she’s attempting to convince the judge that her case calls for a much lighter sentence than the guidelines advise.
Ahead of her sentencing, Jen has submitted a letter entitled “How I got involved in the situation?” which has been obtained by Us Weekly.
In the letter, Jen presents herself as someone who simply made a bad “business decision,” and who did not intentionally defraud any of her elderly victims.
“The terrible business decisions I made and professional relationships I developed stemmed from some personal painful experiences that I was going through in my life,” Shah wrote.
The comments echo remarks made in Jen’s guilty plea, in which she admitted fault, but also justified her actions.
“In 2012 to March 2021 in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere I agreed with others to commit wire fraud,” Shah told Judge Sidney Stein during a hearing at the time.
She added that she knew her actions were “wrong and illegal,” but that knowledge was not enough to prevent her from carrying through with the scheme.
“I knew this was wrong. I knew many people were harmed and I’m so sorry, Shah added.
As for Shah’s future as a Bravo star, network boss Andy Cohen says it’s uncertain.
“She’s being sentenced on December 15, so I don’t know what to say to people who want her on the show,” Cohen told Us last month, shortly before Shah’s hearing was rescheduled.
“I hope that she gets no jail time whatsoever and she can come right back … but I have a feeling that she’s not going to be available to be on the show,” Cohen continued.
“[Her potential sentence is] a long time. Some people on Twitter were saying, ‘We want Jen next season.’ And I’m like, ‘OK, well, talk to the judge.’”
Jen, of course, is not denying that she committed the crimes in question (even if she is trying to downplay said crimes as “bad decisions”).
But she might be correct in her argument that 30 years would be excessive punishment for what basically amounts to a series of non-violent robberies.
We’ll have further updates on this developing situation as more information becomes available.
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