SHOCKING: A SICKENING LACK OF REMORSE EXPOSED IN PLAIN SIGHT… The reason for the total boycott of Maxwell has finally been revealed, and it is truly disturbing.

Jen Shah says she didn’t connect with fellow inmate Ghislaine Maxwell during their time behind bars, and notes the reason was clear.

The former Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star sat down with PEOPLE in an interview for this week’s issue and revealed that while they were both incarcerated at a federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, she insisted on staying away from Maxwell, who was convicted on sex trafficking charges in 2021 for recruiting and grooming underage girls for the late Jeffrey Epstein.

“I had limited interactions with her,” says Shah, who was released from the facility in December 2025 and is now serving the remainder of her sentence under home confinement. “I chose that. I chose to keep my distance.”

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Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2005.Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty

That wasn’t because Maxwell was another high profile inmate either. After all, Shah, 52, spent much of her time with fellow inmate Elizabeth Holmes, the former Theranos CEO who remains at the minimum-security federal prison for fraud and conspiracy convictions following the collapse of the billion dollar biotech corporation she founded.

“Lizzie and I are good friends,” Shah said. “As another high profile prisoner, there are just certain things you’re both dealing with, so you naturally come together in those instances.”

But Holmes, too, “definitely” avoided Maxwell while Shah was there, the reality star says, after they both heard Maxwell’s thoughts on the victims of her crimes.

“I just feel like there should be a level of remorse for the victims,” she says. “And she made it very publicly known — at least to Elizabeth and I — that there’s no remorse there. She outrightly said it.”

Ghislaine Maxwell in October 2016 | Jen Shah, photographed for PEOPLE in Salt Lake City, Utah on March 22, 2026.Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan via Getty; Chad Kirkland

According to Shah, one moment in particular stood out.

“When the victims would be on TV, she was just in complete disregard for them,” Shah says. “And this is when they are pouring their hearts out in front of Congress for those files to be released.”

Shah — who has apologized to her victims after pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a nationwide telemarketing scheme — says she couldn’t get past that.

“To be so dismissive of that? That just didn’t sit with me the right way,” Shah says.

Jen Shah, photographed for PEOPLE in Salt Lake City, Utah on March 22, 2026.Chad Kirkland

Despite that, Shah claims Maxwell was not ostracized inside the facility and appeared to receive preferential treatment.

“Oh no, she was treated very well there. She was afforded things that nobody else was afforded, like private workout sessions, special meals, bottled water,” says Shah. “Everybody witnessed it, and I know that firsthand because I worked in [recreation] so I would have to clean things up. I was also asked for certain equipment because she was going to go work out late at night.”

“It’s concerning,” Shah adds, alleging Maxwell did not have to follow the same legal procedures as other inmates either. “There’s a process you have to go through to schedule your legal calls. She would not have to go through the same process.”

Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Bryan, Texas, US, on Tuesday, May 30, 2023.Sergio Flores/Bloomberg via Getty

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) said that the organization “is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, impartiality, and professionalism in the operation of its facilities.”

“Allegations of misconduct, including any suggestion of preferential treatment, are taken seriously and thoroughly investigated through established internal processes, including the Office of Internal Affairs and, when appropriate, the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General,” the spokesperson told PEOPLE, adding, “BOP Program Statement 3420.12 CN-1, ‘Standards of Employee Conduct,’ explicitly prohibits all staff from providing preferential treatment to any inmate.”

They continued, saying, “Staff are required to treat all inmates equitably, in accordance with law, policy, and institutional security and safety protocols. Any deviation from this standard undermines public trust and the fair administration of justice.”

“Violations of this policy are subject to a full range of disciplinary actions, up to and including removal from federal service and potential criminal prosecution,” the statement concluded.

Maxwell’s lawyer, David Markus, did not immediately return PEOPLE’s request for comment.

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Maxwell was arrested by the FBI in July 2020, nearly a year after Epstein died by suicide in jail while awaiting trial for sex trafficking dozens of underage girls as young as 14.

The former British socialite pleaded not guilty to the six felony sex trafficking charges filed against her but was convicted of five charges. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison and was moved to FPC Bryan in July 2025 after previously being at a facility with a higher security designation.

In December 2025, Maxwell attempted to have her conviction vacated, claiming in a lengthy habeas corpus petition that 29 people (including four co-conspirators) reached “secret settlements” in connection to the Epstein case.

Ghislaine Maxwell attends Polo Ralph Lauren host Victories of Athlete Ally at Polo Ralph Lauren Store on Nov. 3, 2015 in New York City.Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan via Getty

It’s not the first time she’s used the legal system to fight for her freedom.

In September 2024, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied her petition to overturn her conviction, in which she cited a 2008 deal Epstein made with federal prosecutors in Florida to not pursue his alleged co-conspirators, per BBC. The following July, her attorneys petitioned the Supreme Court.

That same month, Maxwell met with top DOJ officials to answer questions about Epstein’s connections to about 100 different people. Markus, her lawyer, said at the time she “didn’t hold anything back.”

Ghislaine Maxwell attends the 4th Annual WIE Symposium at Center 548 on Sept. 20, 2013 in New York City.Paul Zimmerman/WireImage

Maxwell has also reportedly asked President Donald Trump to commute her sentence.

As for Shah, while she was sentenced to 78 months (6.5 years) in prison in January 2023, she served nearly 3 years for her crimes due to good behavior and work she’s already been doing to pay back the over $6.6 million in restitution she owes to her her victims.

“I’d like to say that I’m sorry and I’m here and accepting responsibility and have made it my mission as part of my consequences to make sure that people are paid back through the restitution,” Shah tells PEOPLE, adding, “these people deserve to be made whole.”