‘RHOSLC’ Star Jen Shah’s Family: What to Know About Her Husband, Assistant Stuart Amid Legal Drama

Credit: Chad Kirkland/Bravo

‘RHOSLC’ Star Jen Shah’s Family: What to Know About Her Husband, Assistant Stuart Amid Legal Drama

Amid Jen Shah’s ongoing legal woes, Bravo fans are looking at the Shah Squad. However, only one key part of the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’s inner circle — Stuart Smith — has been named in the alleged telemarketing scheme. Us Weekly confirmed in March 2021 that Jen and Stuart were arrested while cameras were rolling on season 2 of the series. “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 press release on March 30. “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. Now, these defendants face time in prison for their alleged crimes.” Several days later, Jen and Stuart both pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Court documents released in August 2021, however, signaled that Stuart may be changing his plea. [jwplayer QMyM3O4v-zhNYySv2] “Mr. Smith is working diligently towards a resolution of his case. I am confident his case will be resolved without the necessity of a trial and I hereby request that we be excused from the August 10, 20201, hearing,” Stuart’s attorney wrote in a letter to the United States District Judge at the time. As Jen’s October 2021 trial was delayed (seemingly due to COVID protocols) to March 2022, her arrest aired on a November 2021 episode of RHOSLC. She slammed her costars for how they spoke about her shortly after the episode made headlines. “Y’all see who these ladies really are. They have zero compassion for me and my family. It takes an evil person to take delight in what we’re going through,” she wrote on November 15, 2021, via Instagram Stories. “I am [100 percent] innocent and I hope the ladies each learn a valuable lesson from this and stop judging others.” Jen added that the scandal is “heartbreaking” for her family, which includes husband Sharrieff Shah and their two sons — Sharrieff Jr. and Omar. “Everyone is using this as their story lines and jokes and my family is the recipient of this heartless behavior,” she wrote via Instagram Stories. “I look forward to my fay in court so everyone will see this. I hope this will serve as a lesson to everyone that judged and ridiculed me and my family without having any facts, evidence or poor. This is exactly what’s wrong in America … You are not innocent until proven guilty.” Scroll through for more on Jen’s relationship with her husband, sons and Stuart:

Credit: Courtesy Jen Shah/Instagram

Coach Shah

Jen has been married to the University of Utah cornerbacks coach for more than 25 years. In between seasons 1 and 2 of RHOSLC, the duo “almost got a divorce,” she revealed during the September 2021 premiere.

“I thought my life was, like, over. Sharrieff felt like he wasn't being a positive influence in my life. Like, he couldn't help me. What I didn't realize was how I was acting and because I hadn't fully told him how I was feeling, it made him feel like he was the problem,” she explained of their pre-arrest marital woes. "So he was like, ‘OK, I have to leave.' And at first, I thought, OK, this is just an argument. And then the next day, a divorce attorney contacted me. He had already reached out to a divorce attorney.”

The pair sought therapy and decided to stay together.

Credit: Courtesy Jen Shah/Instagram

Sharrieff’s Reaction to the Arrest

Jen claimed to Entertainment Tonight in September 2021 that the legal scandal has brought her and her spouse “closer than ever.”

“When you go through something this traumatic, this deep, people are either going to leave you or they’re going to stay by you,” she said. “Coach Shah and I have had our ups and downs through our marriage and when I thought he cared more about this than me, whatever, now what we’ve gone through there’s no question in my mind Coach Shah loves me more than anybody or anything in the world. And he’s just been so, so supportive of me."

Credit: Courtesy Jen Shah/Instagram

Her Sons

The couple’s sons were spotted in homeland security footage looking for Jen during a November 2021 episode of RHOSLC. Their eldest child is pursuing a career in medicine while their younger son is still in high school.

Credit: Bravo

Jen and Stuart Pre-Scandal

During season 1 of RHOSLC, Jen claimed that Stuart, dubbed her “first assistant,” knew more about her than Sharrieff. “He just does everything. He knows my favorite color, my favorite food,” she said. “He’ll go get me tampons, he knows when my period is every month. Stuart knows everything.”

During a pre-arrest season 2 episode, Jen thanked Stuart for his loyalty — a comment that is now raising eyebrows for fans.

“I hope you realize, too, like, the sacrifices I made — they’re to take care of you and your family,” she said during the November 2021 episode. “And I’ve sacrificed that for work. To set up all these businesses and companies. I did it so that we could take care of employees. … And if I wouldn’t have sacrificed that, a lot of families wouldn’t be eating right now.”

He replied, “I’ve seen that. And I know that you’ll always be there and I’ll always be here for you.”

Credit: Chad Kirkland/Bravo

What Happens Next

Former NBC News legal analyst and attorney Ronald Richards, who is not affiliated with the case, interpreted Stuart’s lawyer’s August 2021 filing as a sign he will “likely flip on her” and change his plea. Stuart has yet to publicly comment on the case after pleading not guilty in April 2021.

In November 2021, Stuart officially changed his plea, pleading guilty to three counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and will be sentenced in March 2022 after Jen's trial. “He admitted to hiding ownership and money, defrauding elderly people and lying to the Federal Trade Commission in a deposition, which constituted perjury,” Richards told Us at the time.