From 3 am wakeup calls to 18-cent-an hour job, a look at Jen Shah’s Texas prison life as she begins 6.5 years term
BRYAN, TEXAS: Jen Shah, star of 'The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,' surrendered to the Federal Bureau of Prisons on Friday to commence serving her six-and-a-half-year term. According to her attorney, she is willing to "make amends" to anyone who has been affected by her.
The reality star is being processed to serve her term in the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, a women's minimum-security facility. The FPC Byran is around 100 miles northeast of Austin and 100 miles northwest of Houston. The 37-acre facility has been dubbed as a "cushy" jail, and another famous inmate, the disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, is expected to reside there. "Instead of cells, these camps generally offer dormitory-style housing for all inmates; it will be bunk beds," criminal defense attorney Doug Murphy previously told The Post.
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3 am wakeup calls, chilly quarters and 18-cent-an-hour job
According to a federal prison expert, Jen Shah's living circumstances inside FPC Bryan are a sharp contrast to the opulent lifestyle she's left behind. And she believes the former Bravo personality will have to fight it out in the Texas jail, surrounded by women who may begrudgingly judge her.
Holli Coulman, a prison consultant and paralegal, told The Sun in an exclusive interview: "Jen will be terrified of the unknown and the women she'll be living with. She's going to find it difficult because some of them will resent her for her past lifestyle. Otherwise, her life's never going to be the same."
Jen will have an 18-cent-an-hour job, will be woken up at 3 am for head counts, and will have to get up for the day at 5 am. She'll get 10 minutes of phone time and $12 in spending money per day. She'll be able to tint her hair either blonde, red, or black, and buy cheap cosmetics. While she's inside her unit, she'll be wearing regular sweatpants and a uniform that she puts on. And she'll be getting a coat for the remainder of the winter, since it's quite cold inside. The prison is a low-security facility for women, but it will be a shock to Jen's system. "She's going to go to something that she has never, ever experienced because before Jen lived a luxury lifestyle," the prison consultant added.
"Jen's accommodation will be very different now," says Holli, a former offender who was sentenced to 21 months in the past. "Everybody thinks these types of camps are easy. People do call it 'camp cupcake' but these camps aren't a soft option."
Jen will be handed the manual for her institution when she arrives. She will be obliged to attend rehabilitation programs and must accept that her everyday life will be altered. She'll have to learn how to use email and the phone, as she'll only get 300 minutes of calls each month. Jen will be able to communicate with just a select few people in the outside world.
"There is a tonne of written and unwritten rules she'll have to learn," Holli says. On a regular day, the lights go on at 5 am. There are counts where cops come in and count for 24 hours straight. So they come in at 5 am, switch on the lights, and count everyone. She is not required to be awake, but she must be in her bed. Since this is a countrywide count, it takes place at the same time. Breakfast is served at 6 am, and the dining hall may be open for five or ten minutes. It depends on how the management or officer on duty that day wants it to be conducted. Jen is not allowed to bring any food with her, and this will be her last opportunity to have a cup of coffee before work begins. She'll be eating oatmeal with jam, rice, bagels, and beans, which she can also acquire from the commissary. She'll have lunch at 10.30 am and at 3 pm, everyone will be called back to their unit to be counted. Dinner is at 4 pm.
Following that length of time, she will have time on her hands to do programming (which are classes). If she doesn't have it, she can go to the law library, stroll to the track, or go to the chapel.
Jen Shah ready to 'make amends'
Jen Shah of 'RHOSLC' is hell-bent on "making the most of her time in prison." After being sentenced last month for scamming thousands of individuals nationwide in a telemarketing scheme, the Bravo personality surrendered at Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas on Friday. Jen begins her six-and-a-half-year jail term and is eager "to make restitution to those whose lives she has impacted," according to her attorney, Priya Chaudhry.
"Jen Shah’s resolve to make her victims whole and to turn her life around is unyielding. 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," Priya said. She added, "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."
Noting that her "path ahead will be filled with challenges," her attorney stated, "with the unwavering love and support of her family and friends, Jen is prepared to face these challenges head-on and emerge from this experience a better person who makes a positive impact on others."
"Jen has faith in our justice system, understands that anyone who breaks the law will be punished, and accepts this sentence as just," Priya continued. "Jen will pay her debt to society and when she is a free woman again, she vows to pay her debt to the victims harmed by her mistakes."
Jen stated in court that she was "sincerely remorseful" and that "reality TV has nothing to do with reality." "I am deeply sorry for what I've done. My actions hurt innocent people," she said in the courtroom. While Jen maintained her innocence in public and on the reality program, prosecutors said she only pled guilty because they had a pile of evidence against her.
Jen Shah to forfeit $6,500,000
Jen was also sentenced to forfeit $6,500,000, 30 luxury items, and 78 counterfeit luxury items, as well as pay $6,645,251 in reparations. She must also undergo five years of post-release monitoring. Prosecutors said in a presentence statement that Jen utilized her fraud proceeds to live a life of luxury, including a roughly 10,000-square-foot house with eight fireplaces nicknamed "Shah Ski Chalet" in Park City, Utah. According to them, the house is currently on the market for $7.4 million.
They claim she also rented an apartment in midtown Manhattan, leased a Porsche Panamera, purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars in luxury products, and sponsored numerous cosmetic operations while defrauding the Federal Revenue Office.