Jen Shah says one fellow inmate she intentionally avoided during her time behind bars was Ghislaine Maxwell.
The former The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star, who was released from federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, in December 2025 and is now serving the rest of her sentence in home confinement, told PEOPLE she “chose to keep my distance” from Maxwell while they were incarcerated together.
“I had limited interactions with her,” Shah says. “I chose that.”
According to Shah, the decision had little to do with Maxwell’s notoriety. Shah says she became close friends with fellow inmate Elizabeth Holmes, the former Theranos executive serving time for fraud.
“Lizzie and I are good friends,” Shah says. “As another high profile prisoner, there are just certain things you’re both dealing with.”
Shah claims she and Holmes distanced themselves from Maxwell after hearing comments Maxwell allegedly made about victims connected to Jeffrey Epstein.
“I just feel like there should be a level of remorse for the victims,” Shah says. “She made it very publicly known that there’s no remorse there.”
Shah also alleges that Maxwell received special treatment inside the facility, including private workouts, bottled water, and special meals, a claim the Bureau of Prisons denied in a statement.
The agency said staff members are required to treat all inmates equally and warned that any employee found giving preferential treatment could face discipline, termination or possible criminal prosecution under federal law and prison policy.