Former Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah has been released from prison.
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Shah was transferred from the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, on Wednesday to a community confinement program overseen by the Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) Phoenix Residential Reentry Management Office.
BOP spokesperson Emery Nelson further clarified in a statement that “community confinement” means Shah is either in home confinement or a halfway house. The BOP is unable to “discuss the conditions of confinement for any individual, including reasons for transfers or release plans, nor do we specify an individual’s specific location while in community confinement” due to “privacy, safety and security reasons.”
Nelson confirmed Shah’s new projected release date is Aug. 30, 2026. In total, she served almost three years of her initial six-and-a-half-year sentence.
THR reached out to representatives for Shah but did not hear back by time of publication.
The former Real Housewives star was indicted on two charges in March 2021, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Her indictment noted that she “carried out a wide-ranging telemarketing scheme that defrauded hundreds of victims … many of whom were over age 55.”
Season two of the reality series captured the moment Homeland Security arrived at the scene of a fellow castmember’s business in search of Shah. She had fled the scene prior to their arrival, and was arrested shortly after.
Shah pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in July 2022, and was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison in early 2023. However, since then, Shah’s sentence has been reduced a few times, most notably being shortened in November, resulting in her Dec. 10 release.
Throughout the tenure of season three of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, Shah claimed she was innocent, though as the show was airing, she had already pleaded guilty. The beloved Bravo franchise is not foreign to legal woes, though Shah’s case is certainly the biggest case to involve a castmember.
The network has historically maintained working relationships with various other Real Housewives who have been involved in legal scandals, leading to speculation that Shah would return to RHOSLC following her release. However, Andy Cohen has since shut down the idea.
THR asked NBCUniversal’s svp of unscripted production Noah Samton if he believes Shah could come back to the series or if the weight of her crimes deters her from returning, to which he responded, “That’s a very tough question, and I don’t know that I have an answer for you right now. There’s a lot of things to weigh and consider with that. We’re not even far enough in thinking or discussing for me to give you any direction at all on that one.”
Lori Gordon, RHOSLC showrunner, also told THR it doesn’t frustrate her when people continuously ask if Shah will have a RHOSLC homecoming: “No, you know why it doesn’t? Because it goes to show that they really like the people on the show. And by the way, Jen was amazing in so many ways. She made bad choices that she definitely regrets and she’s paying for, but ultimately, I loved working with Jen. … And the truth is, the audience also recognizes the great things about Jen. She wasn’t an entirely awful person.”
Read the full article here
