The Bravo universe was rocked when The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah was arrested in March of 2021, and the entire saga unfolded on camera in the Beauty Lab + Laser parking lot.
Jen was charged with fraud and pleaded not guilty but later changed her plea to guilty and was sentenced to 6.5 years in federal prison, starting this month.
She surrendered last Friday, February 17, to FPC Bryan in Bryan, Texas, the facility requested by Jen’s legal team. The Federal Prison Camp is is the lowest security facility available in the federal system and is nicknamed “Club Fed,” comparing it to the luxury resort Club Med.
Jen’s entourage pulled up in a large white SUV, and video footage caught by Nightline showed the disgraced former Housewife walking to the entrance after embracing with her family in the parking lot.
Security was also seen outside of the prison, likely due to Jen’s celebrity status. Jen was escorted off by a man in a medical apron and mask after he gave the guards the thumbs-up that she was ready to go.
It marked the first day of her 78-month sentence for wire fraud, where Jen admitted to defrauding elderly people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
RHOSLC alum Jen Shah plans to make amends while in prison
In a statement from her lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, Jen is reportedly determined to “make the most of” her time behind bars.
The Salt Lake City native said that her “resolve to make her victims whole and to turn her life around is unyielding,” adding that she is “committed to serving her sentence with courage and purpose.”
The statement was released only hours before Jen’s sentence was set to begin, and it acknowledged that Jen’s “path ahead” will be “filled with challenges” but stated that with the support of her friends and family, Jen is determined to “emerge from this experience a better person.”
Jen got two new tattoos days before turning herself in
The mom-of-two showed off two brand-new tattoos on Instagram just days before she turned herself into prison. Jen, who is proudly Polynesian, got the Hawaiian word “keiki,” meaning “son” or “child,” tattooed on her left forearm.
She also got the names of her husband, Sharrieff “Coach” Shah, and their two sons, Sharrieff Jr., 28, and Omar, 19, tattooed on the inside of her right arm. She posted photos of the new ink on her Instagram Story on Wednesday while Mary J. Blige’s song, Everything, played in the background.
The proud mom wasn’t alone at the tattoo parlor. Jen brought her youngest son Omar with her, and he got inked too.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City is currently on hiatus.