Julie Chrisley resentencing: Judge upholds reality TV star's 7-year prison sentence

ATLANTA - A federal judge in Atlanta upheld reality TV star Julie Chrisley's prison sentence during Wednesday's resentencing hearing in her tax evasion and fraud case. 

The 51-year-old "Chrisley Knows Best" star has served 21 months of her seven-year sentence that was handed down to her after she and her husband, Todd Chrisley, were convicted of lying to banks throughout metro Atlanta to obtain $36 million in loans and then hiding their income from the Internal Revenue Service to avoid paying federal taxes on more than $500,000. 

Chrisley's sentence was vacated in June by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit after the court found a legal error in the calculation of her sentence, requiring the lower court to reassess her punishment. 

Prosecutors asked the judge to keep Chrisley's sentence at seven years. Her attorneys had requested a shorter sentence.

The judge sided with the prosecution, ruling that Chrisley should remain in custody for 84 months.

Chrisley and her attorneys had requested that she be resentenced virtually. A judge denied that request as well as another request that Chrisley be able to appear in court in civilian clothes instead of a prison uniform.

The reality star is expected to appeal the ruling.

Savannah Chrisley hoped for mom's early release

Todd and Julie Christley's daughter Savannah Chrisley said on an episode of her podcast on Tuesday that she was hopeful about her mother's situation but is trying to look at things realistically. 

"I hope and pray with everything that I have in me that this judge sends my mama home. I'm in such a phase of life right now of just needing my mom," she said. "Trust me, I need my dad, too. I do. But I feel like you go through phases of life to where you're a daddy's girl, you're a mama's girl. Like you just need your dad for some things and you just need your mom for some things and I need them both home,"

The reality star and podcaster said she has been holding back on talking about her mother's situation out of fear that she might affect the outcome.

"There is so much fear in my life right now pertaining to Mom's resentencing on the 25th that I don't know what to do. And I don't want to jeopardize her freedom because of things that I say," Savannah Chrisley said.

The 27-year-old has been a vocal advocate against what she has called the "inhumane treatment" of her parents in the prison system.

Savannah Chrisley appeared at the 2024 Republican National Convention, where she described the Department of Justice as a "broken agency." 

"72600019, and 72601019. These may be just numbers to you, but to me, they're my whole heart. These numbers are my parents' identification numbers in our federal prison system," the "Chrisley Knows Best" star told the crowd. 

What were the Chrisleys convicted of?

Todd and Julie Chrisley, along with their accountant Peter Tarantino, were found guilty in 2022 of conspiring to defraud banks and the IRS out of millions of dollars. The case involved two main fraudulent schemes: tax evasion and bank fraud. 

Prosecutors say the Chrisleys funneled Todd's income into accounts under Julie’s name and subsequently transferred those funds to family members to avoid detection by the IRS. Tarantino was found guilty of making false statements to federal agents to mislead the IRS. 

Prosecutors also say along with Todd’s former business partner, Mark Braddock, the Chrisleys used falsified financial documents to secure loans and lines of credit from various banks by grossly inflating their assets. 

While the appeals court vacated Julie Chrisley's sentence due to insufficient evidence linking her to losses incurred before 2007, it upheld the convictions of Todd Chrisley and Tarantino., ruling that they should continue to serve their 12-year and three-year prison sentences respectively.