By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Order Vlog
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Jan 6 – Five defendants in a telemarketing scheme were presented past 8 pm on November 20, 2019 in the Magistrates Court of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
On April 2, 2021 Jen Shah of Real Housewives Of Salt Lake City was arraigned in the same case - and a $1 million bond, with $250,000 of it secured by case or property, required. Inner City Press live tweeted that - and the sentencings, of Jen Shah, and co-defendants and cooperators Joseph Chirico and Anthony Cheedie, below,
Inner City Press had filed to unseal Shah's sentencing submissions, in an a "robing room" proceeding that is itself still sealed, Judge Stein emerged and said ""in regard to an application by Inner City Press made a day or two ago for unsealing of essentially all the material that have been submitted to me in connection with this sentencing because certain of the materials were redacted and other material were filed under seal by the defense and Inner City Press asserted the right to have that material put on the public record. That is what the discussion was. That discussion is going to be sealed. The result of it, obviously, will be made public because I did direct that certain of materials be unredacted and other materials be unsealed." Transcript here, h/t Ronald Richards and the material, we're told, should be unsealed Monday.
On January 6, Jen Shah was sentenced to 78 months in prison, after Judge Sidney H. Stein largely granted Inner City Press' application to unseal (though not, it seems, until January 9). Inner City Press live tweeted, thread here.
Back on December 16, 2022 Shah's lawyer in a heavily redacted submission asked for 36 months, far below the plea deal. Exhibit list along with redacted statement by Jen Shah on Patreon here. Inner City Press emailed opposition to the redactions, to Shah's lawyer (no response) and elsewhere - then filed it.
On January 4, Judge Stein ruled: "IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that defendant Shah is directed to respond to the application of Inner City Press [Doc. No. 648] to unseal certain portions of Shah's sentencing memorandum and an exhibit to the government's sentencing memorandum in writing on or before 12:00 p.m. on January 5, 2023."
On January 5 at noon, Shah's lawyer filed not any unredacted memo, but a threat to withdraw the exhibits if Judge Stein rules in favor of Inner City. Letter on Inner City Press' DocumentCloud here.
Less than an hour later, Inner City Press filed a reply: "This replies to defense counsel's argument that the sentencing materials submitted for the Court's consideration can be withdrawn. But they are judicial documents. And citing to pre-guilty plea rulings on motions in limine is unavailing. Most offensive is the claim that Exhibit D, the defendant's own statement asking for a substantially below Guidelines sentence, has been redacted in conformity to rules and precedent. It has not. The second paragraph starts, "In 2016, my life hit a serious crossroad" - then three lines are redacted. The third paragraph begins with a sentence about the defendant's husband - then a full page is redacted. This is unheard of. Contrast it to the January 4, 2023 resentencing of Raymond Quiles, who cooperated with the government about and was ready to testify against this defendant. The courtroom was not sealed; his arguments for mercy, about his autistic son (whose name was given) and his floundering business were all public. Why should Jen Shah be given substantially more secrecy than Raymond Quiles? This statement, intended to procure a lighter sentence, cannot be withdrawn and must be unredacted."
Judge Stein largely granted the motion to unseal. By 5 pm on the day of sentencings, no unredacted memo had been made available by Shah's lawyer.
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