Former The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah is “determined” to “make amends” to the victims of her telemarketing scheme.
Last month, Shah was convicted of wire fraud and sentenced to 78 months – six and a half years – in prison for her role in the scheme, which allegedly defrauded hundreds of elderly victims.
Shah is due to start her sentence today, February 17, at FPC Bryan, the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, southeast Texas – a minimum-security women’s facility nicknamed “Club Fed.”
And according to a statement from her lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, Shah is determined to “make the most of” her time behind bars.
The former Bravo said that her “resolve to make her victims whole and to turn her life around is unyielding,” the statement read, adding that Shah is “committed to serving her sentence with courage and purpose.”
The statement, which was issued to People on Thursday – hours before Shah’s sentence was set to begin – acknowledged that Shah’s “path ahead” will be “filled with challenges” but stated that with the support of her friends and family, Shah is determined to “emerge from this experience a better person.”
RHOSLC’s Jen Shah sentenced to prison in telemarketing scheme
Shah and her “first” assistant, Stuart Smith, 45, were arrested in March of 2021 and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Both initially pleaded not guilty.
Smith eventually pled guilty in November of 2021, but Shah maintained her innocence, repeatedly claiming on RHOSLC that she would “fight” the charges when she got her day in court.
Then, at a July 2022 court hearing just before her trial was set to begin, Shah reversed at the last minute, entering a guilty plea.
At the time, Chaudhry told the outlet that Shah had pled guilty because “she wants to pay her debt to society.”
On January 6, Shah received a sentence of 78 months in prison.
Jen Shah is ‘deeply sorry’ for the ‘hurt’ that she has caused
Before the judgment was read out, a tearful Shah addressed the court, where her family – Shah’s husband, University of Utah football coach Sharrieff Shah, and their two sons, Sharrieff Jr., 28, and Omar, 19, were present.
Acknowledging that her actions “hurt innocent people,” the former Bravo star said she was “profoundly and deeply sorry” for the harm that she had caused.
As part of her guilty plea, Shah also agreed to forfeit $6.5 million in assets and to pay up to $9.5 million in restitution to victims of the telemarketing scheme.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City is currently on hiatus.