“Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star Jen Shah has asked a judge to dismiss her telemarketing fraud scheme case, NBC News reports.
What was Shah arrested for?
Back in March 2021, Shah and Stuart Smith, of Lehi, were arrested “on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and conspiracy to commit money laundering,” according to Deseret News.
What did Jen Shah ask the judge?
Shah’s legal team argued in court documents that the charges and indictment against her are “not at all clear,” NBC News reports.
Shah’s camp argues that the prosecutors used “vague language and sleight-of-hand” in their indictment.
- “This information cannot be adequately reviewed in a lifetime, and requires, as we argue below, that the government particularize the charges in a way that this relatively bare-bones superseding indictment does not,” Shah’s attorneys wrote, according to NBC News.
- “Nowhere does the indictment allege, as required, facts sufficient to establish that Ms. Shah joined this purported conspiracy willfully and with the specific intent to defraud the telemarketing purchasers,” they wrote, according to NBC News. “Thus, this indictment should be dismissed because the facts it alleges, even if taken as true, are insufficient to support the crimes charged.”
Per USA Today, Shah’s team argued that authorities allegedly forced her into waiving her Miranda rights when she was arrested, too.
- According to Findlaw.com, “To expressly waive Miranda rights, the suspect would state (or sign something stating) that they waive the right to remain silent or the right to have an attorney present.”
But her attorneys said that Shah “did not do so voluntarily, but rather as a direct result of law enforcement deception and trickery calculated to overpower her will.”
What’s next for Jen Shah?
It’s unclear what will happen next in the case. The New York Police Department and the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York did not respond to comments about the matter, according to USA Today. So it’s unclear what the judge will do.