Jen Shah Fears She Doesn't 'Belong' In Prison In First Diary Entry Behind Bars
With all the chaos surrounding the "Vanderpump Rules" cheating scandal, it's easy to forget that there's a whole host of problems happening in the rest of the Bravoverse. Chief among them is Jen Shah's prison sentence. The "Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" star was arrested in 2021 during the filming of Season 2.
Since that fateful day, fans have learned — thanks to hundreds of articles and even a documentary — that Shah was facing charges for running a telemarketing scheme. Shah and her colleagues targeted the elderly hoping to start a passion business or make a second income. The scheme revolved around selling the victims false business opportunities to collect and sell their information to other companies that would then re-target the victims. This all surprised fans, who were used to Shah dodging questions about her massive wealth by saying she did something related to digital marketing without ever expanding further.
Shah was sentenced to 78 months, or six and a half years in federal prison for the offense. Not only is that going to cut her time on the show short, but it's going to be quite an adjustment for a woman who made a habit of flying private. Since surrendering herself to a minimum-security prison outside of Houston, Shah's family has been sharing her journal entries with her fans, offering a fascinating insight into Shah's life behind bars.
Jen Shah struggles in prison
Since entering federal prison after a telemarketing conviction, Shah has made every attempt to keep her followers updated on her new normal and how she's adjusting to this monumental change. "Two miles from Bryan Federal Prison Camp (FPC), I could not breathe, and my hands went numb. I knew I was having an anxiety attack," Shah wrote in her first "journal entry," which was posted to her blog.
Shah described the heartbreaking experience of saying goodbye to her husband and her youngest son. "I thought I could do this but I've decided I can't," she concluded. "I want to go home right now, but I know that is impossible." In her second entry, Shah shed some light on the day to day of her life behind bars. Shah made friends with another woman who turned herself in that day, nicknamed "Special K." She describes an unappealing first breakfast of "one piece of wheat bread, an apple, two packets of jelly and a packet of instant oatmeal." The second entry suggests that the reality star struggled to adjust on her first day, and will likely continue to struggle.
Luckily, Shah has an incredible support system waiting for her on the other side. "Throughout this entire ordeal, it has really, it has brought [my husband and me] closer than ever," she said in an Instagram Live (via People). "Coach Shah loves me more than anybody or anything in the world and he's just been so, so supportive of me."