After receiving a shorter-than-expected prison sentence in her wire fraud case Friday, The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah celebrated with Italian food.
On Friday morning, Shah appeared in federal court in midtown Manhattan, where she was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for her alleged role in a nationwide telemarketing scheme that defrauded thousands of people, many of them elderly.
The sentence was lighter than some had expected, as federal prosecutors reportedly requested a full decade in prison for the RHOSLC star.
Later that night, Shah was spotted wining, dining, and celebrating with a group of about 20 at Manhattan hotspot Valbella at the Park.
An anonymous source told Page Six that the star and her posse spent the night “eating and drinking” on the second floor of the luxe Italian restaurant, where an appetizer-sized Caprese salad will set you back $25.
The insider revealed that Shah “had two people standing around her table blocking anyone from taking photos” and that later, after settling her bill, the star stood in the restaurant’s doorway, trying to figure out “how to leave without being photographed.”
RHOSLC’s Jen Shah sentenced to 6.5 years in prison
On Friday morning, U.S. District Court Judge Sidney Stein sentenced Shah to 78 months in prison plus five years of court supervision after her release.
In July, Shah pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with the telemarketing scheme.
As part of her plea agreement, Shah agreed to forfeit $6.5 million in assets and to pay up to $9.5 million in restitution to victims of the scam.
In a December court filing, United States Attorney Damian Williams of New York’s Southern District called Shah an “integral leader” in a “wide-ranging, nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme that victimized thousands of innocent people.”
Williams wrote that Shah “and her co-conspirators persisted… until the victims’ bank accounts were empty, their credit cards were at their limits, and there was nothing more to take.”
After wire fraud sentencing, Jen Shah admits she has ‘hurt innocent people’
When Shah’s sentence was handed down Friday before a packed courtroom, she reportedly showed no reaction. But the star later broke down in tears while addressing the court, where her family – husband Sharrieff Shah and their two sons, Sharrieff Jr. and Omar – were also present.
In a tearful statement, Shah acknowledged that her actions had “hurt innocent people” and said she was “profoundly and deeply sorry” for the harm that she had caused.
Shah was ordered to report to an as-yet-undetermined federal facility on February 17. She has requested to be sent to FPC Bryan, a minimum-security women’s prison in southeast Texas.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.