Jen Shah and her husband, Sharrieff “Coach” Shah, were on the rocks in the height of the reality star’s legal troubles.
In her first sitdown interview since serving time for her role in a telemarketing fraud scheme, the Bravolebrity told People her “involvement in [the] conspiracy overlapped with [her] own personal pain.”
She and Sharrieff, who wed in August 1994, were separated and “on the verge of divorce” at the time, which, Jen claimed, “clouded [her] judgment.”
While she did not nail down the timeline of their relationship struggles, the conspiracy Jen was involved in ran from approximately 2012 through 2021.
Jen also spoke about being “overwhelmed with immense grief from the death of [her] grandmother, [her] father and [her] aunt, all in a very short period of time” when she became embroiled in her legal scandal.
“I was spiraling deeper into my previously diagnosed clinical depression,” she recalled.
Because of these factors, Jen said she “made horrible business decisions and … disregarded huge red flags.”
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She continued, “I allowed the lines to be blurred between personal friendships and ethical business practices. And in essence, I trusted the wrong people at a very vulnerable time in my life.”
Additionally, Jen clarified that it was her responsibility to be “diligent,” insisting she was not “making excuses” for her wrongdoing.
“It’s not like I was making good business decisions and then I woke up one morning and all of a sudden it’s like, ‘Oh, I made a bad business decision,'” she said. “This is the totality of everything that was going on and the overlapping of what I was dealing with personally.
“I tried to avoid and numb all of that with alcohol and just avoid it,” Jen added.
Before the “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in July 2022, she and Sharrieff put on a united front.
Her “Helpless” partner said during a November 2022 episode that it was “painful” not to be able to “control the outcome” and “fix it.”
The following month, he wrote a letter to Jen’s judge requesting leniency ahead of her sentencing, labeling her a “truly good woman.”
The pair stayed strong during Jen’s 33 months behind bars, with Jen wishing Sharrieff a happy Valentine’s Day via Instagram and thanking him for “sticking by [her] side and never letting go of [her] hand.”
The duo, who share two sons, spent their 31st anniversary together in August 2025.
She was released from the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, four months later.
