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'Real Housewife' Jen Shah's prison sentence reduced by a year

The reality star reported to federal prison in February after she pleaded guilty to wire fraud. She is now scheduled to be released in August 2028.
Jen Shah on "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.
Jen Shah on "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City."Andrew Peterson / Bravo / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

"Real Housewives" star Jen Shah’s prison sentence has been reduced by one year, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ inmate database. 

Shah, 49, who reported in February to the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, is now scheduled to be released in August 2028. A federal judge ordered her in January to serve 6½ years in prison for running a nationwide telemarketing scheme that targeted elderly victims. 

“I have spoken with my client Jen Shah over the phone this week — she is doing well and remains committed towards making her victims whole,” Shah’s manager, Chris Giovanni, said in a statement. “She has initiated her payments towards restitution, and we hope to have her home as soon as possible so that she may resume life with her family and work, putting this chapter of her life behind her.”

Shah and her “first assistant,” Stuart Smith were charged in March 2021 with perpetrating a wire fraud and money laundering scheme that “generated and sold lead lists" of innocent people for other members of their scheme to repeatedly "scam” from 2012 through 2021, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Shah initially pleaded not guilty in April 2021, but in July — in a dramatic courtroom reversal a week before her trial had been scheduled to begin — she pleaded guilty to the wire fraud count. As part of the plea agreement, the money laundering charge was rejected and Shah agreed to forfeit $6.5 million, 30 luxury items and 78 counterfeit luxury items and to pay around $6.6 million in restitution.

At sentencing, Shah said she had “come to terms that I have gone against these core values and I am deeply sorry for what I have done,” adding that she wanted to “apologize to all the victims and families, and I take full responsibility for the harm I caused and will pay full restitution to all of the victims.”

Shah's attorney Priya Chaudhry filed a motion Friday asking to withdraw as counsel, according to court documents. 

“ChaudhryLaw seeks to withdraw as counsel for Defendant because the client has failed to pay the fees and expenses owed to the Firm and has thus breached her contract with the Firm,” the documents say.  

Shah entered into a legal agreement with ChaudhryLaw in July 2021. At the time of Chaudhry's filing, part of the fee “remains outstanding,” and Shah owes expenses for the “digital hosting of discovery with an outside vendor,” according to the court documents. 

Chaudhry said in the filings that her firm had made several attempts to collect the outstanding fees and expenses, including six times since July. 

“Defendant and her husband repeatedly promised to pay these outstanding amounts, and the Firm continued to provide services, relying on the written engagement with Defendant and the promises of her husband,” according to court documents. 

ChaudhryLaw, according to the filings, sent a letter to Shah at the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan early this month notifying her that she is “obligated to make payment pursuant to the Fee Agreement” and informing her of its “intention” to file the motion. The judge has yet to weigh in on Chaudhry’s request.

Chaudhry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Before Shah reported to prison in February, Chaudhry said in a statement that “Jen Shah’s resolve to make her victims whole and to turn her life around is unyielding.”  

“She is committed to serving her sentence with courage and purpose, fueled by her desire to make amends for the hurt she has caused and to help others in her new community,” Chaudhry added.