What’s going on with Stuart Smith’s sentencing? Now that his former boss Jen Shah has pleaded guilty to fraud, here's an update on his side of the case.
Smith pleaded guilty in November, saying in a statement in court that he “knowingly and intentionally discussed and engaged with other individuals to develop a plan or operation to obtain money by false representation by offering and inducing individuals, many of whom were over 50 years of age or older, to provide money to entities that I and others were involved with,” as People reported at the time.
Here’s more about his case…
Stuart Smith and Jen Shah were arrested in March 2021.
Smith and Shah were arrested in March 2021 and were each charged with 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, as People reported at the time. Regarding the wire fraud charge, the duo were alleged to have victimized 10 or more individuals over the age of 55.
“Jennifer Shah, who portrays herself as a wealthy and successful businessperson on ‘reality’ television, and Stuart Smith, who is portrayed as Shah’s ‘first assistant,’ allegedly generated and sold ‘lead lists’ of innocent individuals for other members of their scheme to repeatedly scam,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a news release at the time.
“In actual reality and as alleged, the so-called business opportunities pushed on the victims by Shah, Smith, and their co-conspirators were just fraudulent schemes, motivated by greed, to steal victims’ money,” Strauss added. “Now, these defendants face time in prison for their alleged crimes.”
Smith changed his plea to guilty that November.
Shah and Smith initially pleaded not guilty to the charges against them, but Smith changed his plea to guilty that November, admitting in his statement that he “became aware that these telemarketing companies were misleading customers of those entities by selling individuals, many of them who were older than 50 years of age, information that purported to be services to enhance their business opportunities” and that “the services sold were of no value and of no real benefit to the customer.”
In March, Shah discussed her working relationship with Smith during the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Season 2 reunion. “We didn’t work together in the businesses that were being discussed,” she said, per E! News. “Stuart wasn’t around me every day, which is why I had a lot of other assistants, because he was doing his own stuff.”
Stuart Smith is still awaiting sentencing — and facing a maximum of 70 years.
Smith’s sentencing was scheduled for March 3, and after that date came and went without any update on his case, lawyer and former NBC News legal analyst Ronald Richards tweeted that Smith’s sentencing “was obviously continued and will be moved past Jen Shah’s trial so he can get the benefit of his cooperation.”
Smith, who is free on bail, could be facing a maximum of 70 years in prison, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
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