Jen Shah’s time in prison hasn’t affected her marriage to Sharreiff Shah.
A rep for The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City alum revealed that the couple is still “going strong” despite the trials and tribulations they’ve endured with her 5.5-year sentence.
“Jen and Coach Shah are doing really well,” the rep says. “He still sees her often, and they talk on the phone frequently. There are still ups and downs, of course, due to the long distances but their marriage is still going strong.”
The rep adds, “He’s so supportive of her. He’s still very much by his wife. He’s 100% behind Jen.”
Shah, 49, entered a guilty plea in July 2022 after she was arrested in March 2021, along with her assistant Stuart Smith, for their roles in a long-running nationwide telemarketing scheme.
They both originally pled not guilty after they were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Shah’s legal team attempted to have the charges dismissed in August 2021, but a judge denied the request.
Smith switched his plea to guilty that November, and Shah did the same at a hearing in July 2022. On Jan. 6, 2023, Shah was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison, during which she apologized for her actions.
“I am sorry. My actions have hurt innocent people,” Shah said at her sentencing. “I want to apologize by saying, I am doing all I can to earn the funds to pay restitution.”
Before reporting to Bryan Federal Prison Camp (FPC) in Bryan, Texas, on Feb. 17, 2023, Shah’s attorney Priya Chaudhry spoke out on her behalf in a statement.
“Jen Shah’s resolve to make her victims whole and to turn her life around is unyielding,” the statement read. “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. 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.”
In March 2023, Shah’s sentence was reduced by one year, making her new release date Aug. 30, 2028.
“I have spoken with my client Jen Shah over the phone this week — she is doing well and remains committed towards making her victims whole,” her rep said at the time. “She has initiated her payments towards restitution, and we hope to have her home as soon as possible so that she may resume life with her family and work, putting this chapter of her life behind her.”
That same month, Shah’s husband shared one of her journal entries on Instagram, which detailed the day she reported to federal prison.
“Sharrieff opened the back passenger seat, and I turned to embrace him; hugging him as if holding him harder would somehow erase this horrible nightmare,” she wrote, recalling her final moments with him. “I wanted to remember his embrace, his smell, his touch. I held his face in both of my hands. As [I] looked into his eyes, tears streaming down my face, I told him he is the love of my life and I love him more than anything.”
After she was searched and her belongings were approved, she detailed her last goodbye with her family. While walking off, she saw her husband and son “watching me both still crying.” She prayed to God at that moment, “asking for strength” as she didn’t know how she’d made it through.
