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Jen Shah is a free woman no longer.
The former Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star reported to a federal prison in Texas today to begin serving her 6 and 1/2 year sentence.
Back in July of 2022, Shah pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Prosecutors say the 49-year-old masterminded a telemarketing scheme designed to defraud the elderly and bilk them out of their savings.
In her tearful guilty plea, Jen insisted that she acted out of ignorance and did understand the impact of her actions.
Shah blamed her crimes on mental illness, telling the court, “With the proper medication I can now see what happened.”
Prosecutors weren’t buying it and asked the judge to lock her up for a decade.
Shah’s husband wrote to the judge and begged for a lenient sentence (she could have been locked up for up to 30 years, according to federal guidelines), and it looks like his words may have carried some serious weight.
Six and a half years is no drop in the bucket, but it could have been a lot worse.
And hey, Jen might soon have some famous company, as Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is set to begin her 11-year sentence at the same prison in April!
Future besties, perhaps?
“Jen Shah’s resolve to make her victims whole and to turn her life around is unyielding,” said Shah’s attorney Priya Chaudhry in a statement issued on Thursday.
“She is committed to serving her sentence with courage and purpose, fueled by her desire to make amends for the hurt she has caused and to help others in her new community,” the statement continued.
“No obstacle will deter Jen from making the most of her time in prison and she’s determined to make restitution to those whose lives she has impacted,” Chaudhry added.
“Her path ahead will be filled with challenges, but with the unwavering love and support of her family and friends, Jen is prepared to face these challenges head-on and emerge from this experience a better person who makes a positive impact on others.”
Only time will tell about that last part, obviously.
But regardless of what sort of impact prison has on her, Shah won’t be able to go back her old ways right off the bat.
She’ll need to undergo five years of supervised, release, including mandatory mental health counseling.
So yeah, while she may not have received the 10-year sentence prosecutors had in mind, Jen will be well into her sixties before she’s completely out from under the government’s thumb.
If Bravo still exists at that point, we’re sure Andy Cohen will be happy to welcome her back to the Housewives franchise.
She’ll have quite a tale to tell.
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