'RHOSLC' Star Jen Shah Took a Guilty Plea Prior to Her Scheduled Trial Date
Sep. 29 2022, Updated 3:03 p.m. ET
Bravo's The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City is officially back for Season 3, and one of the main talking points of the season will be about Jen Shah's legal issues
For those who haven't been keeping up, RHOSLC star Jen Shah was arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering while she was filming Season 2.
While Jen was getting ready for her trial when the beginning of Season 3 filmed, a lot changed for the reality star in the months that followed.
When is Jen Shah's trial? She took a plea deal in July of 2022.
Jen's trial was originally set to begin about a year after her initial arrest, on Monday, March 7, 2022. The date later got pushed back to March 22, 2022, and Jen noted on the Season 3 premiere that she didn't have a lot of time to get ready.
The trial, which was expected to last for about five weeks, was pushed yet again to July 18, 2022.
However, before the trial could begin, Jen decided to change her plea to guilty.
Before Jen changed her plea, she had said that she was innocent on RHOSLC.
"You're being charged with fraud and money laundering. There’s one charge that’s 30 years and one charge that’s 20 years, is that right?" Andy asked the reality star during the Season 2 reunion.
"I don't know," Jen responded.
"You don’t know what the charge is?" Andy asked, understandably incredulous.
Later in the episode, Jen maintained that she was "innocent until proven guilty."
"What I have been accused of is absolutely the complete opposite of anything I would do in my life," Jen previously said in a confessional on RHOSLC. "If I have any fault, it's because I'm too giving, and I help too many people."
Though it seemed like Jen was looking to maintain her innocence during her trial, she changed her plea last-minute to "guilty" in July of 2022. The reality star pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and the conspiracy to commit money laundering charge was dropped.
"Jen pled guilty because she wants to pay her debt to society and put this ordeal behind her and her family," Jen's lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, told Page Six in a statement after her guilty plea was publicized. "Ms. Shah is a good woman who crossed a line. She accepts full responsibility for her actions and deeply apologizes to all who have been harmed. Ms. Shah is also sorry for disappointing her husband, children, family, friends and supporters."
Per the parameters of her plea agreement, Jen now faces anywhere between 11 and 14 years in prison, and she could pay a restitution of up to $9.5 million.
Jen's one-time business partner, Stuart Smith, also pled guilty.
Before Jen changed her plea, her former assistant and business partner, Stuart Smith, had already pled guilty to the charges against him.
Smith was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and one count of obstructing an official proceeding.
He originally pled not guilty to the charges alongside Jen, though in November he decided to change his plea to guilty. He is still awaiting sentencing.
New episodes of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City air on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo. You can also stream new episodes on Thursdays on Peacock.
