With exclusive news from PEOPLE, it is now official that Jen Shah has been released from prison. The 52-year-old reality star, known for her time on "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City," left the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, in the early hours of Wednesday, December 10th. She had been incarcerated since February 17th, 2023 (for a total of 2 years, 9 months, and 23 days) for her role in a long-running nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme.
The exact destination of Shah's post-release life is currently under wraps. According to BOP policy, she could have been released to her home or transferred to a halfway house to complete the remaining portion of her sentence under supervision. While a final decision was made prior to her departure, the information is not being revealed yet to protect her privacy.
"We can confirm that Jennifer Shah transferred on December 10th, 2025, from the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Bryan to community confinement overseen by the Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) Phoenix Residential Reentry Management (RRM) Office," a BOP spokesperson told PEOPLE. "Community confinement means the inmate is either in home confinement or a Residential Reentry Center (RRC, or halfway house). For privacy, safety, and security reasons, we do not disclose an individual's specific location while in community confinement."
Shah and her assistant, Stuart Smith, were arrested in March 2021 for allegedly targeting thousands of individuals, including the elderly, in a nationwide fraud scheme. They were both charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and conspiracy to commit money laundering, with Shah pleading guilty to the former in July 2022.
"I am sorry. My actions have hurt innocent people," the reality star said at her sentencing on January 6th, 2023. "I want to apologize by saying, I am doing all I can to earn the funds to pay restitution."
Despite her sentence being initially set at six and a half years, Shah's time was reduced several times due to good behavior, participation in prison programming, and financial payments she has begun making to victims (in total, Shah has been ordered to pay $6.5 million in restitution). Her projected release date was moved up from November 3rd, 2026, to August 30th, 2026, after reductions in August and mid-November.
"Everyone's very grateful for the BOP's decision, especially because it means Jen will be able to reunite with her family for the holidays," Shah's manager, Chris Giovanni, told PEOPLE at the time. "It's a gift she doesn't take for granted."
"Jen's in a really positive, hopeful place mentally," he added. "She's done a lot of reflecting and real growth during her time away, and is genuinely not the same woman as she was before. Her focus is on her family and building a healthier, more grounded life. She understands the seriousness of the mistakes she made and is excited to put this chapter behind her so that she can show everyone the woman she's worked hard to become."
