Highlights:
Former Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah has been released from federal prison and moved into a community confinement program. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Shah was transferred on Wednesday (10) from the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, to a program supervised by the Bureau of Prisons’ Phoenix Residential Reentry Management Office.
BOP spokesperson Emery Nelson explained that “community confinement” means Shah is now either in home confinement or living in a halfway house. Nelson noted that the agency cannot “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 also confirmed that Shah’s new projected release date is Aug. 30, 2026. She has now served nearly three years of her original six-and-a-half-year sentence. THR reached out to Shah’s representatives but did not receive a response by publication time.
Shah was indicted in March 2021 on conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Prosecutors said 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 show famously captured Homeland Security agents searching for Shah at a castmember’s business. She fled before they arrived but was arrested shortly after.
Although she pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in July 2022 and was sentenced in early 2023, her sentence has since been reduced several times, including a major reduction in November that led to her Dec. 10 release.
Throughout season three of RHOSLC, Shah publicly maintained her innocence, even though she had already entered a guilty plea. While legal drama is not new for the Real Housewives franchise, Shah’s case remains one of the most severe involving a castmember.
Speculation has grown about whether Shah could return to the show now that she has been released, but Andy Cohen has shut down the idea. When asked whether she might come back, NBCUniversal’s svp of unscripted production Noah Samton said, “That’s a very tough question, and I don’t know that I have an answer for you right now… We’re not even far enough in thinking or discussing for me to give you any direction at all on that one.”
RHOSLC showrunner Lori Gordon told THR she isn’t bothered by the constant questions about Shah’s potential return. “No, you know why it doesn’t? Because it goes to show that they really like the people on the show… Jen was amazing in so many ways… she definitely regrets [her choices] and she’s paying for [them], but ultimately, I loved working with Jen.”
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