When Jen Shah walked into prison nearly three years ago, everyone at Federal Prison Camp Bryan knew exactly who she was. According to the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City alum, the other inmates knew she was coming, and it felt like a “BravoCon meet and greet” once she got there.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City alum did not want the attention
Jen sat down with People to talk about her road to prison and what’s next in her life. In the interview, she admitted that she didn’t know what to expect when she reported to serve a 6.5-year sentence. She certainly didn’t expect it to be full of RHOSLC fans.
“It was like a BravoCon meet and greet when I got there — literally. I didn’t know that there was so many fans there,” Jen recalled.
It turns out, you never know where you’re going to encounter a Bravo fan, and Jen said that they actually had access to Bravo on the TVs in prison. The staff decided to remove it when Jen arrived, but eventually added it back a few months later. When that happened, Jen said it ignited a new wave of attention that felt like “mayhem.”
“Everybody had questions,” Jen said. “It brought a lot of attention to me that in prison, you probably don’t want to have that attention because you have a lot of people that look at you and treat you negatively just because you’re from a different background than they are.”
As a high-profile inmate, Jen explained that the guards had special protocols in place for her. She had to carry around a self-identifying pink card and check in with the guards every two hours. That added even more attention to her, and it eventually got out of control.
Jen explained, “They had to move me units into another unit because of all the harassment and everything that was going on.”
Ultimately, Jen credited her husband and kids for keeping her grounded during her sentence, which was significantly reduced to 33 months. She’s now on home confinement until August. She said it’s her mission to make sure her victims get their money back.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City is streaming on Peacock.
TELL US – ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT THERE WERE SO MANY BRAVO FANS BEHIND BARS? WHAT DO YOU THINK IS NEXT FOR JEN SHAH?
