‘RHOSLC’ Star Jen Shah Breaks Her Silence in First Interview Since Prison Release

Jen Shah has broken her silence after being released from prison following nearly three years behind bars.

The former Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star, 52, sat down with PEOPLE following her December 2025 release from prison to discuss her crimes, claiming she “trusted the wrong people” at a “very vulnerable time” in her life.

“I was wrong,” the Bravo star told the outlet. “I made wrong decisions. I should have done things differently. I should have been more diligent. And I’m deeply remorseful and sorry for my actions and for my part. I take full responsibility.”

Shah was arrested in March 2021 and ultimately pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for her role in a telemarketing scheme that defrauded its victims, many of whom were elderly or otherwise financially vulnerable. After serving two years and nine months in federal prison, Shah was released in December 2025 and is serving out the remainder of her sentence under home confinement.

Shah told PEOPLE it was “a long and a very complex journey” that brought her to this point in life, adding, “And without re-litigating it, I became involved in the case because I made horrible business decisions and I disregarded huge red flags. I allowed the lines to be blurred between personal friendships and ethical business practices. And in essence, I trusted the wrong people at a very vulnerable time in my life.”

Shah insisted that she believed herself to be “doing the right thing” for the “majority of the time” and that she was “working under people who were running these companies,” which she believed to be operating legitimately.

Despite what the reality TV personality said was happening without her knowledge, Shah acknowledged her responsibility in the scheme. “It can happen if you’re not careful, if you’re not being diligent and you’re not paying attention to the red flags,” she said. “But you have a responsibility once you’re in that position to make sure it doesn’t.”

Shah said it was “important” for people to know that her “involvement in this conspiracy overlapped with [her] own personal pain,” including a separation from husband Sharrieff “Coach” Shah and the deaths of her grandmother, father and aunt “in a very short period of time.”

“I was spiraling deeper into my previously diagnosed clinical depression,” she said, adding that while she didn’t want to make an “excuse” for her decision, “This is the totality of everything that was going on and the overlapping of what I was dealing with personally. And I tried to avoid and numb all of that with alcohol and just avoid it.”

Shah said she’s focused now on paying back the more than $6.6 million in restitution she owes, calling it her “mission to make sure that people are paid back.”

“I understand that people have their opinions based on what they saw,” she added. “But I would hope they would give me the grace to at least hear me and understand that I’m more than just the headline.”