‘RHOSLC’ Alum Jen Shah Enters Prison To Start 6.5 Year Sentence For Role In Fraud Scheme

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Jen Shah has begun her 78-month prison sentence. The former Real Housewives Of Salt Lake City star, 49, officially reported to prison on Friday, Feb. 17, TMZ has confirmed. She is expected to serve her time at the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, according to the outlet. It’s a minimum-security prison that is described as “cushy”, per Page Six. “Instead of cells, these camps generally offer dormitory-style housing for all inmates, it will be bunk beds,” criminal defense attorney Doug Murphy revealed to the New York Post last month. Jen is not expected to be the only famous name locked up there; disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes asked to begin her 11-year sentence there, which starts in April.

As RHOSLC fans know, Jen was sentenced on Jan. 6 after being convicted of scamming elderly citizens out of millions of dollars in the telemarketing scheme she ran from at least 2012 to March 2021. “Jen Shah deeply regrets the mistakes that she has made and is profoundly sorry to the people she has hurt,” her lawyer, Priya Chaudhry told HollywoodLife at the time. “Jen has faith in our justice system, understands that anyone who breaks the law will be punished, and accepts this sentence as just. Jen will pay her debt to society and when she is a free woman again, she vows to pay her debt to the victims harmed by her mistakes.” In addition to the prison time, Jen will be required “to forfeit $6,500,000, 30 luxury items, and 78 counterfeit luxury items, and to pay $6,645,251 in restitution,” according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York.

Jen originally maintained her innocence in the scheme, but shocked fans when she pleaded guilty in July 2022. She decided to admit her guilt eight months after her former assistant, Stuart Smith, pleaded guilty. “Ms. Shah is a good woman who crossed a line. She accepts full responsibility for her actions and deeply apologizes to all who have been harmed,” Jennifer’s lawyer said in a statement to PEOPLE after she pleaded guilty. “Ms. Shah is also sorry for disappointing her husband, children, family, friends, and supporters. Jen pled guilty because she wants to pay her debt to society and put this ordeal behind her and her family.”

Just days before she reported to prison, Jen debuted a new tattoo located on her forearm dedicated to her family. The fresh ink was in a scripted font and listed her husband’s and her sons’ names in one continuous line: “Sharieff Omar Sharieff“.

Plus, on Thursday, her attorney issued a statement claiming that Jen plans to right her wrongs. “Jen Shah’s resolve to make her victims whole and to turn her life around is unyielding,” Priya told PEOPLE. “She is committed to serving her sentence with courage and purpose, fueled by her desire to make amends for the hurt she has caused and to help others in her new community.” The statement went on to say that Jen plans to make “the most of her time in prison.”

The statement concluded, “Her path ahead will be filled with challenges, but with the unwavering love and support of her family and friends, Jen is prepared to face these challenges head-on and emerge from this experience a better person who makes a positive impact on others.”