Weighing in. Jen Shah‘s Real Housewives of Salt Lake City costars were not the only ones with plenty to say about her prison sentence.
The reality star, who rose to fame after appearing in the hit Bravo series, was sentenced to 78 months with five years of supervised release in January 2023.
Shah originally made headlines for her legal woes in March 2021. After initially pleading not guilty, the Utah native later changed her plea. “In 2012 to March 2021 in the Southern Distrit of New York and elsewhere I agreed with others to commit wire fraud,” she said during a June 2022 court hearing in New York City. “I knew this was wrong. I knew many people were harmed and I’m so sorry.”
After previously facing up to 30 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s office dropped the second charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Shah, for her part, issued an apology to her family amid the drama.
“I am profoundly and deeply sorry,” she told husband Sharrieff Shah and their sons following the sentencing. “Reality TV has nothing to do with reality.”
Fellow Bravo star Teresa Giudice addressed the news shortly after the judge ordered Shah to report to prison in February 2023. “I can’t relate to that [Shah’s sentencing], because I would never do something like that, you know?” the Real Housewives of New Jersey star said on an episode of her “Namaste B$tches” podcast.
Giudice, who served time behind bars after pleading guilty to fraud in March 2014, noted that her experience was much different. Teresa clarified that she was sentenced after signing papers that allowed her ex-husband Joe Giudice to commit fraud — allegedly without her knowledge.
“Listen, it’s sad, [but] like, I wouldn’t steal anybody’s money,” she continued. “I would not do that. I would never do that, that’s so bad. I know my kids know that I didn’t do anything. Joe told them. But when you’re stealing [from] people, and the kids could read this, and they’re like, ‘Mom, well why’d you do this?’ Like what do you say to your kids to that?”
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Ahead of Shah’s sentencing, Andy Cohen addressed the future of RHOSLC if the star received time in prison.
“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,” he exclusively told Us Weekly in November 2022. “Some people on Twitter were saying, ‘We want Jen next season.’ And I’m like, ‘OK, well, talk to the judge.'”
Scroll down for everyone who weighed in on Shah’s sentencing:
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