Julie Chrisley re-sentenced: Judge confirms 7-year prison sentence for reality TV star

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

The 51-year-old “Chrisley Knows Best” actress has served 21 months of a seven-year prison sentence she and her husband, Todd Chrisley, were given for lying to Atlanta-area banks to obtain $36 million in loans and then hiding their income from the IRS to avoid paying more than $500,000 in federal taxes.

Chrisley's conviction was overturned in June by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit after the court found a legal error in calculating her sentence, forcing the lower court to reconsider her sentence.

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

The judge ruled in favor of the prosecution and decided that Chrisley should remain in prison for 84 months.

Chrisley and her lawyers had requested that her sentencing be re-sentenced virtually. A judge denied that request, as well as another request that Chrisley appear in court in civilian clothes instead of a prison uniform.

The reality star is expected to appeal the verdict.

Savannah Chrisley hopes for early release of her mother

Savannah Chrisley, the daughter of Todd and Julie Christley, said on an episode of her podcast on Tuesday that she is hopeful about her mother's situation but tries to keep things realistic.

“I'm hoping and praying with everything I have in me that this judge sends my mom home. I'm at a stage in life right now where I just need my mom,” she said. “Believe me, I need my dad too. I really do. But I feel like you go through stages in life where you're a daddy's girl, a mama's girl. Like you need your dad for some things and you need your mom for some things and I need them both at home.”

The reality star and podcaster said she has been reluctant to speak about her mother's situation for fear it could influence the outcome.

“I'm so scared right now about my mother's retrial on the 25th that I don't know what to do. And I don't want to jeopardize her freedom because of the things I say,” said Savannah Chrisley.

The 27-year-old is fighting loudly against what she considers to be the “inhumane treatment” of her parents in the prison system.

Savannah Chrisley appeared at the 2024 Republican National Convention, where she called the Department of Justice a “broken agency.”

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

Why were the Chrisleys convicted?

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

Prosecutors allege that the Chrisleys diverted Todd's income to accounts under Julie's name and then transferred those funds to family members to avoid detection by the IRS. Tarantino was found guilty of making false statements to federal agents in an attempt to mislead the IRS.

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

While the appeals court overturned Julie Chrisley's conviction because there was insufficient evidence of losses prior to 2007, it upheld the convictions of Todd Chrisley and Tarantino and ruled that they must continue to serve their 12-year and three-year prison sentences, respectively.