Real Housewives star Jen Shah asked for a reduced sentence as she faces between 11 and 14 years behind bars for stealing from hundreds in a telemarketing fraud scheme.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City alum, 49, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud back in July and is due to be sentenced next month.
Sentencing range is thought to be over a decade in jail, but the probation department has recommended a six-year prison term, according to US media.
Prosecutors will submit their own recommended sentence to the judge next week, but the reality TV star has already asked for a reduced stint of just three years in prison.
According to court documents, Jen's legal team is pushing for a lesser sentence as she wasn't the "kingpin" behind the operation, as reported by CNN.
"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 explained to the judge in a four-page legal letter titled 'How I got involved in the situation?'.
Her lawyers claim Shah never had direct contact with the victims, despite prosecutors alleging that she came up with leads to target for the scheme.
They claim Shah and others sold "business services" to alleged victims, including "website design services" to some computer-less elderly individuals, since 2012.
Jen was arrested in 2021 while Bravo was shooting the second series of the hit-reality TV show, with some episodes showing her castmates' reactions to her charges.
Attorneys asked the judge to ignore Jen's portrayal on the show, notably one tagline in the show's promo in which Jen says "the only thing I’m guilty of is being Shah-mazing".
"Just as Jen Shah has never been a ‘housewife,’ little else is real about her persona and caricature as portrayed by the editors of RHOSLC," say her lawyers, reported by CNN.
She asked to serve her sentence at the federal prison in Bryan, Texas and has agreed to forfeit $6.5million (£5.3m) and pay up to $9.5million (£7.8m) in restitution to the victims.
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