Julie and Todd Chrisley sentenced to 7 years and 12 years in prison
Chrisley Knows Best “career swindlers” Julie and Todd Chrisley have been sentenced to 12 years and 7 years in prison after being convicted of fraud, tax evasion and obstruction of justice in June.
“A federal judge sentenced Todd Chrisley to 12 years in prison plus 16 months probation,” Channel 2 Action News reports. “His wife, Julie, was sentenced to 7 years in prison, plus 16 months probation.”
The sentencing was handed down in US District Court in Georgia earlier today. Prosecutors had recommended 210-262 months (17.5-21.8 years) for Todd Chrisley and 212-151 months (10-12.6 years) for Julie Chrisley.
US District Judge Eleanor Ross “recommended that Julie Chrisley be allowed to serve her sentence at FCI Tallahassee and Todd Chrisley be allowed to serve at FCI Pensacola, as they asked,” reports Insider.
According to the sentencing minute sheet, the Chrisleys “are on bond and will be allowed to voluntarily surrender.” Fox 5 Atlanta reveals “the couple’s report date is Jan. 15, 2023.” I assume that the fact that Todd and Julie share the same report date means that their request to have their sentences staggered was denied. (The Insider article doesn’t appear to state that anywhere, and neither does the sentencing minute sheet.)
UPDATE – We now have the press release from the Department of Justice’s U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Georgia in response to the Chrisleys’ sentencing. I will include the full press release below, but I wanted to share this excerpt first:
As part of sentencing, the Court ordered both Todd and Julie Chrisley to pay restitution and will determine the exact amount at a later date.
DOJ Statement on Julie and Todd Chrisley Sentencing
Todd and Julie Chrisley have been sentenced to 12 and seven years, respectively, in federal prison after a jury convicted them of bank and tax fraud offenses following a nearly three-week jury trial.
“Over the course of a decade, the defendants defrauded banks out of tens of millions of dollars while evading payment of their federal income taxes” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “Their lengthy sentences reflect the magnitude of their criminal scheme and should serve as a warning to others tempted to exploit our nation’s community banking system for unlawful personal gain.”
“As this sentencing proves, when you lie, cheat, and steal, justice is blind to your fame, fortune, and position,” said Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The FBI is proud to work with our law enforcement partners at the IRS and the U.S. Attorney’s office to pursue and prosecute individuals that are driven by greed to evade the law.”
“The Chrisleys defrauded financial institutions and the Federal Government through tax evasion and other fraudulent means in an effort to minimize their tax liability, but project an image of wealth,” said James E. Dorsey, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Atlanta Field Office. “This sentencing serves notice that no matter a person’s celebrity status, there are severe consequences for defrauding the American tax system.”
According to U.S. Attorney Buchanan, the charges and other information presented in court: Todd and Julie Chrisley conspired to defraud community banks in the Atlanta area to obtain more than $36 million in personal loans. The Chrisleys, with the help of their former business partner, submitted false bank statements, audit reports, and personal financial statements to Georgia community banks to obtain the loans. The Chrisleys spent the money on luxury cars, designer clothes, real estate, and travel – and used new fraudulent loans to pay back old ones. After spending all the money, Todd Chrisley filed for bankruptcy and walked away from more than $20 million of these fraudulently obtained loans.
Later, while earning millions from their TV show, Todd and Julie Chrisley, along with their accountant, Peter Tarantino, conspired to defraud the Internal Revenue Service. Throughout the conspiracy, the Chrisleys operated a loan-out company. To evade collection of half a million dollars in delinquent taxes owed by Todd Chrisley, the Chrisleys opened and kept the corporate bank accounts only in Julie Chrisley’s name. But after the IRS requested information about bank accounts in Julie Chrisley’s name, the Chrisleys transferred ownership of the corporate bank account to a relative to further conceal their income from the IRS.
In addition, the Chrisleys failed to file tax returns or pay any taxes for the 2013, 2014, 2015, or 2016 tax years. As a part of the tax evasion scheme, Tarantino was convicted of filing two false corporate tax returns for the loan-out company, which falsely claimed that the company earned no money and made no distributions in 2015 and 2016.
The Chrisleys also attempted to obstruct justice before being charged as well as during the trial. After learning of the grand jury investigation, Julie Chrisley submitted a fraudulent document in response to a grand jury subpoena to make it appear that the Chrisleys had not lied to the bank when they transferred ownership of the loan-out company’s bank account to their relative.
On June 7, 2022, a jury convicted the Chrisleys on all counts of a superseding indictment, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit tax evasion. The jury convicted Julie Chrisley of an additional charge of obstruction of justice. Tarantino was also convicted of multiple tax-related violations.
U.S. District Judge Eleanor L. Ross sentenced the defendants as follows:
- • Todd Chrisley, 54, of Brentwood, Tennessee, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.
• Julie Chrisley, 49, of Brentwood, Tennessee, has been sentenced to seven years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.
• Peter Tarantino, 60, of Alpharetta, Georgia, has been sentenced to three years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.
As part of sentencing, the Court ordered both Todd and Julie Chrisley to pay restitution and will determine the exact amount at a later date.
This case was investigated by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigations.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas J. Krepp, Annalise K. Peters, Alex R. Sistla, Sekret T. Sneed, Vivieon K. Jones, and Amy Palumbo prosecuted the case.
What Did The Chrisleys Do?
The US Government’s Sentencing Memorandum provided a brief recap of the fraudulent acts committed by the Chrisleys over the years, including some that weren’t prosecuted, as they argued for lengthy sentences:
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Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley should be sentenced to lengthy periods of incarceration.
The Chrisleys have built an empire based on the lie that their wealth came from dedication and hard work. The jury’s unanimous verdict sets the record straight: Todd and Julie Chrisley are career swindlers who have made a living by jumping from one fraud scheme to another, lying to banks, stiffing vendors, and evading taxes at every corner.
Their “empire” was built upon the backs of defrauded community banks that collapsed while Todd Chrisley used the stolen money to fly to Los Angeles for bi-weekly haircuts. After their fraud scheme imploded, the Chrisleys managed to shirk responsibility by abusing the bankruptcy system and writing off over $20 million of the fraudulent loans they had burned through living a lavish lifestyle.
Undeterred, while they were in bankruptcy, the Chrisleys started a reality television show where they flaunted their wealth and lifestyle to the American public. As they began making money from the show, they hid it and refused to pay the federal income taxes that their viewers pay every year.
Even while making millions of dollars, they insisted on defrauding everyone they encountered in the smallest ways imaginable: the BP Oil Spill Fund out of money intended to help afflicted homeowners, a California homeowner out of rent money, even the network that airs their show for an extra airline ticket. And, believing themselves to be untouchable, Todd and Julie Chrisley tried to obstruct the grand jury investigating their crimes and put up their family members and friends to lie for them at trial.
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Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
