UPDATE: A federal judge has denied Jen Shah's request to drop criminal charges against her after her attorney alleged that an ABC News documentary, which was recently released on Hulu, violated her right to a fair trial.
In an order filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and obtained by E! News on Saturday, Dec. 11, U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein wrote, "Dismissal of an indictment is an extreme sanction that is to be utilized only in the rare case."
Stein added, "There has been no evidence whatsoever proffered to suggest that Shah's right to a fair trial has been compromised or prejudiced in any respect."
E! News has reached out to the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star's attorney for comment.
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As the trial for her alleged involvement in a telemarketing scheme approaches, Jen Shah is asking for criminal charges against her to be dropped.
In court documents filed with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on Nov. 30 and obtained by E! News on Dec. 1, attorneys for the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star asked a judge to dismiss her case, arguing that an ABC News documentary recently released on Hulu has violated Shah's right to a fair trial.
Titled The Housewife & the Shah Shocker, the documentary centers around the federal investigation around into Shah, 47, and her assistant Stuart Smith, who have also been accused of defrauding hundreds of victims in a nationwide telemarketing scam.
The doc features interviews from two Homeland Security Investigations agents, and according to Shah's legal team, the agents shared details about the star's case that were not publicly available and "opined on her involvement with the alleged scheme, her ‘lavish lifestyle,' and her alleged treatment of purported victims."
Shah's attorneys called the agents' actions "reprehensible" and argued that the interviews "severely jeopardize" Shah's right to a fair trial.
"Ms. Shah respectfully requests that the Court grant her leave to file a motion to dismiss the indictment," Shah's attorney wrote in a letter to the judge. "Given both the extensive viewership of Hulu nationwide and Ms. Shah's public notoriety, a change in venue would not protect Ms. Shah's rights, nor would alternative remedies such as a detailed voir dire or emphatic jury instructions."
Furthermore, Shah's defense team claimed in the letter that this was "the second time a member of the prosecutorial team or the USAO has made public, disparaging statements about Ms. Shah," citing an alleged Aug. 20 incident in which an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York was overheard at a restaurant "loudly bragging about prosecuting Ms. Shah."
"This cannot be tolerated," Shah's attorneys argued.
Since her arrest in March, Shah has pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of obstructing an official proceeding. Her assistant, Smith, initially also pleaded not guilty to the same charges but changed his plea to guilty in November.
The reality star's trial is scheduled for March 2022. If convicted of all charges, Shah faces up to 70 years in prison.
E! News reached out to Homeland Security Investigations, Hulu and ABC News for comment but did not hear back. The United States Department of Justice declined to comment.
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
(This story was originally published on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021 at 3:14 p.m. PST.)