For the first time since her release from prison, Jen Shah has spoken publicly, offering an apology to those whose lives were affected by her actions.
“I was wrong,” the former reality-TV star from “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” said in an exclusive interview with People magazine.
She continued, “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 sentenced in January 2023 to 61⁄2 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for her role in a wide-ranging national telemarketing scheme that targeted vulnerable seniors.
Her sentence was reduced multiple times for good behavior and participation in prison programs, and the former reality star was released from federal custody in December and is now serving the remainder of her sentence under home confinement.
The Bravo star says her understanding of the scheme has evolved, acknowledging that she became involved making “horrible business decisions” and ignoring “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,” she told the outlet. “I thought I was doing the right thing for the majority of the time.”
Shah maintained that she believed the companies were legitimate operations, and noted that after the initial sale, she was unaware of what was happening with the customers.
For roughly a year after her arrest, Shah asserted her innocence. Her perspective shifted in July 2022, after her legal team obtained a trove of evidence from prosecutors.
“That was the first time I saw all of it — the communications, the interviews, the witnesses,” she said. “I saw for the first time that there were people who were hurt.”
“There were actual victims as a result of this conspiracy. I had never seen anything with my own eyes. That changed things for me.”
While involved in the scheme, the Utah-based reality star said external factors left her vulnerable and “clouded her judgment.” She noted that the conspiracy unfolded while she was on the brink of divorce and grieving the deaths of her grandmother, father and aunt, all within a short period of time.
“The reason I say all that is not as an excuse. Because it’s not like I was making good business decisions and then I woke up one morning and all of a sudden it’s like, ‘Oh, I made a bad business decision.’ This is the totality of everything that was going on and the overlapping of what I was dealing with personally,” Shah said. “I trusted the wrong people at a very vulnerable time in my life.”
Shah is now concentrating on making amends, which includes paying the court-ordered restitution of $6.5 million.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m accepting responsibility, and I’ve made it my mission to make sure that people are paid back.”
Still, Shah expressed hope that people will allow her to move forward.
“I understand that people have their opinions based on what they saw,” Shah concluded. “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.”