- Real Housewives of Salt Lake City alum Jen Shah was arrested in March 2021 for her role in a telemarketing fraud scheme.
- She was placed behind bars on Feb. 17, 2023, and has served less than three years of her sentence.
- A rep for the reality TV personality has confirmed that she’s been released from prison early.
An unfortunate real-life scandal for Jen Shah turned into one of the best moments of reality television when she was arrested by the Department of Homeland Security on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City in 2021. Now, a rep for the Bravo alum has confirmed to People that she’s been released from prison, less than three years into her sentence.
At the time of her arrest, she was a key player in a long-running nationwide telemarketing scheme along with her assistant, Stuart Smith, to which she pled guilty in July 2022.
The reality TV personality was then placed behind bars at a Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, once she surrendered herself on February 17, 2023. She was originally sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison after being charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The length of her sentence has been reduced a few times because of “good behavior, participation in prison programming, and financial payments she has begun making to victims.” She was ordered to repay $6.5 million to the victims of her telemarketing scheme, which mostly targeted elderly people, from 2012 until 2021.
After serving a month at the FPC, Jen’s time was cut by a year and went down again in October 2024 and in January 2025. Her potential release date was moved to November 3, 2026, before another reduction in August 2025 moved it up to August 30, 2026.
On November 21, People exclusively revealed that the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) ended up approving an early release for December 10.
“Everyone’s very grateful for the BOP’s decision, especially because it means Jen will be able to reunite with her family for the holidays. It’s a gift she doesn't take for granted,” her manager, Chris Giovanni, told the outlet upon receiving the news.
He added, “Jen’s in a really positive, hopeful place mentally. She’s done a lot of reflecting and real growth during her time away, and is genuinely not the same woman as she was before. Her focus is on her family and building a healthier, more grounded life. She understands the seriousness of the mistakes she made and is excited to put this chapter behind her so that she can show everyone the woman she’s worked hard to become.”
As for where Jen is headed after her sentence, most of the details are being kept under wraps to ensure her privacy. The BOP confirmed to People that Jen is “in either home confinement or a Residential Reentry Center (RRC, or halfway house).”
