It’s a hard-knock life for Jen Shah. She reported to the Bryan Federal Prison Camp on February 17, 2023, to begin a 6.5-year sentence. Due to her role in a nationwide telemarking scam, the former Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star had to trade opulence for a prison cell. Jen proclaimed her innocence until July 2022 when she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
And she decided that there is an eager audience that wants to know about her life behind bars. For the second time, an administrator posted a journal entry to her Instagram page.
According to People, Jen’s new journal entry talked about her new roommate. The post is titled “Journal Entry #2.” It reads, “Kashana, who’s nickname is Special K, also surrendered with me yesterday.”
Jen went from fine dining to cafeteria breakfasts. That charcuterie arrangement that went overboard last season sure seems appreciated right about now. She continued, “We’ve kind of both stuck together the first full day as we both walked in shocked, stunned and scared trying to figure out where we go from here. Today is Saturday, there is a 6 a.m. brown bag breakfast brought into the common area of our unit. I was so tired and didn’t wake up but Special K got one for me.”
She continued, “It had one piece of wheat bread, an apple, two packets of jelly and a packet of instant oatmeal. I ate the piece of bread: a lady was offering instant coffee in the common area but I didn’t have a mug. I saved the apple and oatmeal packet in my locker since I don’t go to the commissary until next Tuesday. If I get hungry, I can at least have something to eat.”
The mother of two then became overwhelmed. She misses her husband Sharrieff Shah and sons Sharrieff Shah Jr., and Omar Shah. “I cried silently sitting on my top bunk bed last night pretending to fall asleep reading a book, but in actuality my chest was hurting as if my heart had broken in a million pieces,” she wrote. “I laid in the dark alone with my thoughts of having to say goodbye to my family – to my sweet husband and boys.”
RELATED: Real Housewives Of Salt Lake City Star Jen Shah Gets Two Tattoos Before Reporting To Prison
To her credit, the telemarketing fraudster acknowledged the fallout of her actions. She wrote, “Doing this to my family – putting them through this ordeal the past 2 1/2 years. And their pain of having to watch me surrender yesterday, and now the beginning of what will be 78 months without me is crushing my soul.”
But Jen is a woman adjusting to her surroundings. She wrote of calling her husband Sharrieff for the first time from prison.
The RHOSLC alum explained how the dialing process works. “I immediately jump up, grab my glasses and stumble off the top bunk. I look for my PAC# paperwork and quickly go to the phones so Special K can show me how to activate my PAC#. Special K already had someone show her how to do it earlier that morning,” Jen wrote. “My heart is racing. My hands are shaking.”
“The thought of finally being able to call my husband and hear his voice is making my eyes water. I activate my PAC #, record my voice greeting and set up the few contacts I could remember in the computer,” she added. “Now I must wait an additional 15 minutes before I call my husband.”
Jen wrote of her frustrations. My goodness, how her fortune changed over the past three years. “I tried three times and the system says ‘you cannot make a call at this time.’ I am trying to stay patient and not get frustrated. I must learn to focus on what I can control. I am not alone in my struggles and I must remember that on days where I want to just see my husband and children,” she said.
The emotions of being unable to reach her family triggered Jen. “My eyes are filling up with tears. I go to the bathroom and cry so no one will see or hear me,” she wrote.
Before she reported to prison, Jen’s attorney Priya Chaudhry issued a PR-friendly statement. It read, “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.”
Perhaps some of Jen’s victims are reading her journal entries. What kind of emotions could they be experiencing? It’s definitely a vindication for them.
TELL US- ARE YOU READING JEN’S JOURNAL ENTRIES? WHAT IS YOUR REACTION?
[Photo Credit: Fred Hayes/Bravo]
