Mr. Shah opened up about the crime of fraud and 6.5 years in prison in an interview he did before he surrendered in prison last Friday.
Hours before the start of her sentence, the The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City The cast member admitted feeling relieved when he started spending time away from his family, including his wife Sharrieff “Coach” Shah and son Sharrieff Shah Jr. and Umar Shah. He also looks back at the moment he realizes he’s done wrong and teases his potential return for entertainment.
“What I’m most afraid of is the transition of not being able to hug and kiss my husband and my children every day, and my mother,” Jen said during a February 17 interview with Saran Kolar Putih. “But at the same time … I also have hope and motivation to do a good job and make the most of my time.”
According to Jen, she experienced “a lot of ambiguity” during the investigation against him. So, now that he knows what happens “tomorrow”, he feels “relieved”.
“I will be able to put the past behind me and finally start truly healing and forging a new path,” he explained.
Recalling her arrest in March 2021, Jen said her immediate response was, “They’ve got somebody wrong. They’ve got to do everything wrong. I didn’t do anything.”
“I didn’t fully deny it at that time and it took so long in the process because I really believed and said that I was not guilty of the things I was accused of,” he admitted. “It’s like I’m in this tunnel and I’m only seeing what I want.”
“I lied to myself because I refused to accept that I had done this or that I had hurt anyone,” Jen said. “I lied to myself and told myself what I wanted… That should not have been the truth and that thinking led to worse decisions for me in the legal process.”
While Jen waited more than a year to deny it, she finally admitted her guilt with a guilty plea in July 2022, before going to trial.
“The biggest thing for me was seeing the list of names of the actual victims,” she said. “It became a reality for me when someone got hurt because of this… And that’s when I had to make the hardest decision of my life… I had to sit there and say, ‘I have to do the right thing now. .’ “
Looking back, Jen says pleading guilty “was the hardest decision,” explaining that it took her a long time because her experience was “really a journey and a process.”
“Because of the lies I told, and until I can come out of that lie and see, I can’t change anything else and I’m not going to take responsibility or admit my mistakes,” he said.
As she prepared to begin her sentence, Jen said she brought only two things to check: the Koran and an 18-page release plan that would help her “stay on track.”
“I will document and update, [and] journaling my process. I want people to hold me accountable. I plan to publish part of the release plan [and] share with everyone on the website,” he said. “I plan to spend the morning writing, reading … doing book reports … I try to read to get value and apply, exercise, work on the release plan.”
In addition to wanting to give back and help other women, Jen said that a big part of her release plan is paying back the victim.
“It is voluntary. But for me, I want to make it mandatory,” he said. “I put the amount I will pay and I put it there because if it is in my plan, I will be responsible.”
Jen also hopes to continue working with the National Tongan American Society and return to entertainment.
“[I’m hoping to get] return to where I am back in the entertainment industry and do it in a way that I affect positive change and aligning with the goals that I have laid out,” he explained.
In the end, Jen said, “I’m sorry for letting the victims down and I want, from now on, to prove it’s worth it. I want to make every victim whole. I want to prove it’s worth the support that Sharrieff and Omar and Sharrieff Jr. and my mom, my brothers, has shown me during this journey.
“It’s not just talk. I will show you through action and hard work,” he added.
Real Housewives of Salt Lake City The fourth season reportedly started filming earlier this month.