Former Real Housewives of Salt Lake City cast member Jen Shah will be a free woman sooner than expected.
The reality television star’s prison sentence has been reduced for a second time, US Weekly confirmed on Thursday, October 10 — this time by eight months. As a result, Shah, 51, is now scheduled to be released from Bryan Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas on December 19, 2027, instead of August 30, 2028.
On March 30, 2021, Shah and one of her assistants, Stuart Smith, were arrested in Utah for their roles in a telemarketing scheme that defrauded hundreds.
“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 at the time.
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“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.”
In July 2022 Shah pled guilty to money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud — after originally pleading not guilty — and was sentenced six-and-a-half years in prison and pay $6.5 million in restitution.
She reported to prison to serve her sentence in February 2023. Her sentence was later reduced by one year a month later, in March.
In a statement to Us via her rep, Shah detailed how she is making use of her time in prison, saying in June 2023 that she completed an “anger management course” while she was incarcerated.
“Through journaling, homework, audio lessons and the two hour weekly group sessions/class, I learned more about what anger is, where it comes from, and healthy ways to respond and react that are safe and beneficial,” Shah said at the time. “I learned you can have the same activating event but get a different outcome using the tools we learned and implemented each week.”
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Shah’s arrest, incarceration and exit from RHOSLC was the source of some extended on-screen drama, when former cast member Monica Garcia was revealed to be one of many people behind the infamous Instagram account Reality Von Tease and was effectively reporting on her castmates without their knowledge or consent.
In her defense, Garcia claimed she initially got involved with the controversial social media account to expose Shah and her alleged mistreatment of employees.
“In reflection, I could have used this on ‘RHOSLC,’” Shah told Us in regards to her anger management course. “Even though class has ended, I will be carrying around my RSA worksheet in case I run into conflict while here. Ultimately, I can’t control what others will do, but I can control how I choose to respond and react with the tools I learned in class…#ZenJen.”
