Jen Shah enjoyed a dinner for 20 at New York City’s Valbella on Friday night after receiving a lesser-than-expected prison term at her sentencing hours prior.
After the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star was dealt with a 6.5-year prison term (prosecutors hoped for a 10-year term) for allegedly running a years-long telemarketing scheme that targeted the elderly, Jen was spotted “eating and drinking” on the venue’s second floor.
“She had two people standing around her table blocking anyone from taking photos,” a source told Page Six on January 7, noting that it was unclear if Jen’s husband, Sharrieff Shah, was present.
According to the report, Jen left with her security guard after being seen trying to figure out “how to leave without being photographed” in the doorway of the restaurant.
As the outlet also shared, Jen shared a message to Sharrieff and their sons, Sharrieff Jr. and Omar, in court on Friday morning, telling her family, “I am profoundly and deeply sorry,” and admitting to going “against” her core values of “humility and loyalty and respect” and hurting “innocent people.”
Although none of Jen’s RHOSLC castmates have addressed her sentencing directly, Whitney Rose shared a couple of telling posts on Friday afternoon after appearing alongside Julia Fox on Watch What Happens Live.
“Season 3 of [RHOSLC] was a lot and very heavy. Wrapping it with such a fun show was the perfect send-off to a difficult season. The darkness is gone, lightness is upon us,” she declared.
She also took to her Instagram Story, where she shared a selfie and wrote, “What a day…”
Following Jen’s sentencing, her attorney, Priya Chaudhry, released a statement.
“Jen Shah deeply regrets the mistakes that she has made and is profoundly sorry to the people she has hurt,” she told E! News. “Jen has faith in our justice system, understands that anyone who breaks the law will be punished, and accepts this sentence as just. 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.”
As for where Jen will serve her time, which is set to begin on February 17, the RHOSLC cast member requested to be sent to Texas’ FPC Bryan, a minimum security federal prison camp.
“Jen Shah has asked to be designated to Federal minimum security facility in Bryan, Texas – with Theramos’ Elizabeth Holmes,” reporter Matthew Russell Lee revealed in a January 6 post on Twitter.
Theramos founder Elizabeth Holmes was found guilty of multiple counts of fraud and sentenced to over 11 years in prison in November 2022 after defrauding investors and will begin her sentence on April 27.
Jen will be on supervised release for five years after the completion of her prison term.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City season three airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.