ATLANTA — A federal appeals court has vacated Julie Chrisley’s sentence over fraud allegations.
According to court documents obtained by Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals said “After careful consideration, and with the benefit of oral argument, we affirm the district court on all issues except for the loss amount attributed to Julie. The district court did not identify the evidence it relied on to hold Julie accountable for losses incurred before 2007, and we cannot independently find it in the record. So we vacate Julie’s sentence and remand solely for the district court to make the factual findings and calculations necessary to determine loss, restitution, and forfeiture as to Julie and to resentence her accordingly.”
As for Todd Chrisley, his conviction has been upheld.
Shortly after the ruling, daughter Savannah Chrisley took to Instagram to give an update to her fans about what this means.
“So basically, what this means is that the appeals court could not find any evidence that attributed this $17 million loss amount to my mother. And for that I am grateful and I hope and pray that the judge can send her home,” she said. “I am a firm believer that she will be coming home sooner rather than later.”
Todd and Julie Chrisley, mostly known for their reality TV series “Chrisley Knows Best,” and Peter Tarantino, their accountant, were found guilty in 2022 of conspiring to defraud banks and the IRS out of millions of dollars and are serving a combined 15 years in prison. The Chrisleys were originally sentenced to a combined 19 years in prison, but the sentences were reduced in September 2023.
Todd is serving 12 years in prison. Julie was sentenced to 7. Their accountant also received 3 years.
The couple have been in the process of appealing their convictions.
The Chrisleys are appealing, alleging federal prosecutors made serious errors during the trial
Their attorney argued prosecutors knowingly allowed an IRS officer to give false testimony.
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“We’re asking the District Court to get the case back to be able to resolve those questions,” attorney Alex Little said.
Prosecutors said when the officer testified, neither side had evidence the Chrisleys paid some of their delinquent taxes.
Channel 2 Action News first started investigating the Chrisleys in 2017, when we learned that Todd Chrisley had likely evaded paying Georgia state income taxes for several years.
Court documents obtained by Channel 2 Action News showed that by 2018, the Chrisleys owed the state nearly $800,000 in liens.
The couple eventually went to trial and a federal jury found them guilty of bank fraud and tax evasion.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals says Julie Chrisley should be resentenced. There is no word yet on when that will happen.
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