Jen Shah Speaks Out After Prison Release

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The 52-year-old served a total of 33 months behind bars in for her role in a long-running nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme.

Shah pled guilty , and in addition to her prison time she was ordered to pay more than $6.5 million in restitution.

She was originally sentenced to 78 months in 2023, but her sentence was repeatedly slashed for good behavior and she was released in December.

In her first post-jail interview, she declared: 'I was wrong. I made wrong decisions. I should have done things differently,' via People.

'I should have been more diligent. And I'm deeply remorseful and sorry for my actions and for my part. I take full responsibility,' she added.

Shah's arrest in March 2021 was famously captured on Bravo cameras during season two of RHOSLC, cementing her place in Housewives history. 

She initially proclaimed her innocence, even doubling down during reunion specials, but ultimately changed her plea to guilty in July 2022—months after her former assistant and co-conspirator, Stuart Smith, admitted his role. 

'It's a long and a very complex journey that brought me to this point,' she said in her new interview. 'And without re-litigating it, I became involved in the case because I made horrible business decisions and I disregarded huge red flags.'

The former reality star stated: '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.'

Prosecutors say Shah helped compile 'lead lists' of potential victims of the scam, in which bogus business services were sold to the financially vulnerable.