Todd Chrisley gets 12 years Prison for bank fraud and tax evasion
On Monday, Todd and Julie Chrisley, hosts of the USA Network’s most popular original series “Chrisley Knows Best,” were given significant federal prison sentences for what authorities called a “15-year fraud spree.”
According to Atlanta’s WSB-TV, both Todd and Julie Chrisley were given lengthy prison terms. Todd received 12 years and Julie received 7 years.
The pair was found guilty of bank fraud and tax evasion in June. After defaulting on more than $20 million in debt when Todd Chrisley filed for bankruptcy in 2012, prosecutors said that the company obtained $30 million in bank loans using fraudulent paperwork. The federal jury also determined that they had intentionally concealed millions of dollars in earnings from the show from the Internal Revenue Service.
The federal government had requested sentences of 17-21 years for Todd Chrisley and 10-12 years for Julie.
Prosecutors said in a sentencing letter that the Chrisleys flaunted their affluence on their TV show while stiffing creditors, including service workers and a contractor who did not get paid for work done on the couple’s residence.
“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,” prosecutors said further. “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.”
Peter Tarantino, the Chrisleys’ accountant, was also convicted and sentenced to three years in prison on Monday. The jury found Tarantino guilty of conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and filing fake tax returns.
Bruce Morris, Todd Chrisley’s attorney, argued for a reduced term by noting that the outstanding taxes had been paid and that many others depend on him financially, including those who work on “Chrisley Knows Best” and its several spin-offs.
Morris expressed “The scores of people who are employed in the production and filming of the Chrisley television shows will be harmed when he is incarcerated,”
Season 10 of “Chrisley Knows Best” will premiere certain episodes next year that were filmed before the trial began. There has been no official word from NBCUniversal on the renewal of the Chrisley series for subsequent seasons.
The defence presented a slew of letters of support from friends and family of the Chrisleys, as well as one from Lee White, the Chrisleys’ representative at WME in Nashville.
White said that the Chrisleys assisted his wife in receiving cancer treatment.
“This is the perfect example of who they truly are as Christians,” White explained. “The version of Todd and Julie that was painted by the prosecution is totally antithetical to the people that we know and love… Simply put, the world is a better place because of the selflessness and love that they show to anyone that comes into their lives. This is the Todd and Julie Chrisley that I know. We need more role models in our communities like this, not less.”
Julie Chrisley’s defence team contended that she was only a “minimal player” in the crimes and requested probation rather than incarceration.