Jen Shah’s Criminal Trial Postponed!

Jen Shah will have to wait a little longer to have her day in court. The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star’s trial has been delayed for another four months. The trial was originally scheduled to begin on March 22 but is now set to kick off on July 11. 

“The final pretrial conference is adjourned to June 27, 2022, at 10:00 a.m,” documents obtained by Radar Online state. “The trial is adjourned to July 11, 2022, at 9:20 a.m.”

Jen was arrested in March of last year and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection to a massive telemarketing operation. Prosecutors claim that she targeted elderly and vulnerable people to build lists for shady companies. The reality star has denied all of the allegations. 

Jen’s lawyers are trying to obtain unaired footage of the ABC documentary, The Housewife and the Shah Shocker, which aired on Hulu, in November. 

ABC is reportedly trying to dodge the subpoena, claiming that Jen is demanding “sweeping categories of records in ABC News’ possession related to the Documentary, including all video footage — whether broadcast or not — and all documents concerning the dozens of interviews taken for the Program, including all unpublished reporter notes and internal communications.”

The subpoenaed footage reportedly contains interviews with Jen’s family members, the alleged victims, and Department of Homeland Security investigators. ABC News claims that Jen has no right to the unaired material. 

In December, Jen alleged that two special Department of Homeland Security agents stepped out of line in the documentary and asked that all charges be dropped. Judge Sidney H. Stein refused to toss the case. 

“Dismissal of an indictment is an extreme sanction that is to be utilized only in the rare case,” wrote Judge Stein, in a document obtained by People. 

Jen, 48, contended that the agents made statements in The Housewife & the Shah Shocker that were “highly prejudicial” and could influence the jury pool, per a report by TMZ. The Bravo star argued that the men revealed details about the ongoing investigation that were not available to the public, and shared commentary about the “lavish lifestyle” of “fraudsters.” Jen noted specific comments made by Agent Rick Patel, who spoke about the circumstances surrounding her arrest. Agent Agnieszka Norman made statements about Jen allegedly hiding funds in offshore accounts, and suggested that the case against the reality star stemmed from a narcotics smuggling ring investigation. 

“The folks that are behind this are pros at what they do. It is disgusting,” Homeland Security Investigations Acting Special Agent in Charge Rick Patel said in the documentary. ”And what we’d like to tell any victim is, it’s not your fault, please come forward, because we need your help to make sure this doesn’t happen to more people.”

Jen is also demanding that no RHOSLC footage be allowed admitted as evidence. She alleged that the episodes are heavily edited to produce crafted, producer-driven narratives. 

“The Housewives franchise is part of the ‘reality TV’ genre, which is defined as TV made from ordinary people ‘playing’ themselves in a TV show,” her lawyer said.

The judge has not yet ruled on her request.

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