Bravo’s Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jennifer Shah, who was sentenced Friday to 6 1/2 years in prison for defrauding thousands of people — many of them vulnerable or older, in a telemarketing scam that stretched nearly a decade — celebrated her sentencing with a lavish dinner party.
Shah celebrated her shorter-than-expected prison sentence for wire fraud with a luxury dinner at the Italian hotspot Valbella in New York City on Friday night, after learning her fate in federal court earlier that morning, according to a report by Page Six.
The 49-year-old Real Housewives star, who is scheduled to surrender to prison on February 17, spent the night with about 20 of her friends “earing and drinking” on the second floor of Valbella.
“She had two people standing around her table blocking anyone from taking photos,” a source told Page Six, which added that it remains unclear if her husband Sharrieff Shah or co-stars were in attendance.
A source also noted that Shah stood in the doorway, trying to figure out “how to leave without being photographed.” The outlet’s photographers nonetheless caught the convicted fraudster leaving the establishment with her security.
Hours earlier, Shah — who was facing a maximum of 14 years in prison — had been sentenced to six and a half years.
The Real Housewives star apologized to the “innocent people” she said she had hurt, and pledged to pay $6.5 million in restitution and forfeiture when she gets out of prison.
“I have no one to blame but myself,” she said. “I wish I could have stood outside myself and seen the harm I was causing and changed course. I am profoundly and deeply sorry.”
Shah was arrested in March 2021 while cameras were rolling for Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Season 2.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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