News update (1/10/2024): Julie Chrisley resentenced to 84 months, $4.7 million in restitution for tax evasion, bank fraud
Before Julie and Todd Chrisley became residents of federal prisons in Kentucky and Florida, the pair were best known for reality show ‘Chrisley Knows Best.’
Since January 2023, Julie Chrisley has been an inmate at the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky.
Last week, a federal judge ordered the disgraced reality TV star to continue to serve her seven-year prison sentence there for tax evasion and bank fraud.
The 51-year-old matriarch of the Chrisleys − who became famous from the USA Network hit show “Chrisley Knows Best” − appeared in federal court in Atlanta on Sept. 25 for a sentencing hearing three months after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the lower court miscalculated Chrisley’s prison time, citing lack of evidence of her full involvement in the bank fraud scheme for which she and husband Todd Chrisley were sentenced.
Almost a week after the resentencing hearing in the tax evasion and bank fraud case that sent her and her husband, “According to Chrisley” star Todd Chrisley, to prison, a records check shows Julie Chrisley is not at FMC Lexington.
Results of a Bureau of Prisons record search show Julie Chrisley was “not in BOP custody” as of Sunday, Sept. 29, though the site states a release date of April 22, 2028. The BOP site is a record locator for inmates and does not explain what “not in BOP custody” means. The site does note that a pretrial inmate may have been removed from custody by the U.S. Marshals Service “and subsequently released by the court with no further notice to the BOP.”
Julie Chrisley has served 20 months at FMC Lexington and is expected to return there.
Todd and Julie Chrisley’s daughter, Savannah Chrisley, who attended the resentencing hearing in Atlanta, mentioned her mother in a WSB-TV story: “She’s OK. I think the transport process is a process that no one knows, and it’s probably the most inhumane process, especially for women. There is no reason a woman should be transported with over 75 men and only be one of four women. There’s just no reason that should be happening,” Savannah Chrisley told Channel 2 Action News. “I spoke to her last night. I can’t imagine what that process is for her. It’s tough …”
The couple’s son Chase Chrisley and the family attorney, Alex Little, also attended the Atlanta hearing, according to news reports.
In June 2022, Todd and Julie Chrisley were found guilty of tax evasion and defrauding community banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans.
In January 2023, the Chrisleys traded their luxurious lifestyle for prison. While Julie Chrisley was at FMC Lexington, the 56-year-old Todd Chrisley is serving time at FPC Pensacola, described on its site as a “minimum security federal prison camp.” The couple was sentenced to 7 and 12 years, respectively.
A Sept. 29, 2024, check on the Federal Bureau of Prisons website shows Todd Chrisley will be released July 26, 2032, more than two years earlier than his original 12-year sentence.
Here’s what we know about “Chrisley Knows Best” stars Todd and Julie Chrisley and their legal troubles.
What happened at Julie Chrisley’s resentencing hearing? ‘Chrisley Knows Best’ star gets 84 months
According to a court filing obtained by USA TODAY, U.S. District Judge Eleanor L. Ross upheld her 2022 ruling and gave “justification for the sentence imposed” during the 50-minute hearing on Sept. 25. Chrisley was sentenced to 84 months of incarceration, five years of supervised release and more than $4.7 million – the total amount prosecutors said she obtained illegally – in restitution.
An attorney for the Chrisleys had requested a reduced sentence for Julie Chrisley, according to The Associated Press. Meanwhile, U.S. attorneys argued Julie Chrisley was a “core part” of the fraud scheme.
The judge reportedly explained her 2022 ruling was already a reduced sentence for Chrisley’s crimes and less than what prosecutors had requested for the former reality star.
Per Ross’ amended forfeiture order filed Sept. 25, which was reviewed by USA TODAY, Todd Chrisley was found to have “received a total of $17,270,741.57 in proceeds as a result of committing the offense of conviction” and was ordered to forfeit that amount to the government.
Julie Chrisley was back in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
