Jen Shah Reveals She Had An ‘Anxiety Attack’ In Her First-Person Account of the Day She Reported to Prison

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Jen Shah admits she didn’t have an easy time beginning her 78-month prison sentence. The former Real Housewives Of Salt Lake City personality, 49, opened up via Instagram with a lengthy new journal entry about her first day at Bryan Federal Prison Camp in Texas (PEOPLE reports that her husband Sharrieff posted it for her.) “Two miles from Bryan Federal Prison Camp (FPC), I could not breathe and my hands went numb,” she wrote in the March 9 post. “I knew I was having an anxiety attack. I made Coach pull over because our reception was poor while driving and I was not able to FaceTime my oldest baby. We finally connected, I saw his face, and I cried so hard until he reassured me that it would be okay. I didn’t think I’d make it through today.”

She continued, explaining her “worst fear” as she neared reporting for her sentence on Friday, February 17. “It felt surreal as we drove to Bryan FPC just minutes away from having to surrender. My worst fear and the unimaginable was about to happen –having to say goodbye to my sweet husband and precious baby Omar (he’ll always be my baby even though he’s a senior in HS.)”

Jen’s account of reporting in prison went on, with the reality star calling the experience a “horrible nightmare” and describing how she prayed that her family would be protected. As she finally left her son and husband, she wrote, “I see Sharrieff and Omar are watching me both still crying. I say a prayer as I’m walking asking for strength. I don’t know how I am going to do this.” Comments were turned off for the post.

Back in January, the famously volatile Jen was sentenced to 6 and a half years for her part in a telemarketing scheme she headed up for nearly a decade. She pleaded guilty in July of 2022, and is also expected to pay millions in restitution. “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. “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.”