Jen Shah guilty? Bitch, pleas.
The embattled Bravolebrity, 48, revealed on Sunday night’s third and final installment of the “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” Season 2 reunion why she didn’t take a plea deal in her ongoing fraud trial.
“I’m fighting this. I am innocent,” Shah told host Andy Cohen and her castmates. “And I will fight for every person out there that can’t fight for themselves because they don’t have the resources or the means, so they don’t fight.”
She continued, “I will fight because No. 1, I’m innocent and No. 2, I’m going to f—king represent every other person out there that can’t fight and hasn’t been able to.”
The reality TV personality is facing up to 50 years in prison for allegedly scamming hundreds of people, targeting the elderly in particular, out of money through a widespread telemarketing scheme.
Shah — who was cuffed by feds in March 2021 as “RHOSLC” cameras were rolling — received major support from her co-stars at the reunion, with bestie Heather Gay offering exceptionally kind words.
The embattled Bravolebrity insisted to host Andy Cohen and her co-stars that she is “innocent.”Bravo“I love Jen. I don’t care if she’s guilty or not,” the Beauty Lab and Laser founder said. “I believe her, too. And I want the best for her and her family and I’ll be in court every day and I will fight for her. She’s in the fight of her life.”
Gay, 39, added, “We got your back. We love you.”
Jen has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering charges, and her trial was recently pushed back from March to July 2022 in New York City.
Meanwhile, Shah’s former assistant and alleged accomplice Stuart Smith changed his not guilty plea to guilty in November 2021, accepting three charges brought against him: 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.
Though Shah admitted at the reunion that her “legal situation” has been “devastating” to navigate, she believes it has only made her a “stronger” person.
“You’re stronger than you think you are,” she said of the biggest lesson she learned while filming “Salt Lake City” Season 2. “If you can get through the impact of the initial news or whatever you’re going through, you’re going to be OK.”
Shah was cuffed by feds in March 2021 as “RHOSLC” cameras were rolling.BravoThe mom of two — who shares sons Sharrieff Jr., 27, and Omar, 18, with husband Sharrieff Shah — noted that the the experience has also brought her closer to her family.
“I know that my husband loves me more than anything and that my kids do, too,” she said. “And how much I love them.”
Before wrapping up the reunion, Cohen, 53, asked Jen if she anticipates sitting on the reunion couch again for Season 3.
“Of course,” she stated confidently, seemingly unbothered by the potential of a decades-long prison stint. “I ain’t going nowhere.”
