ATLANTA — When former President Donald Trump became the new President-elect last week, Todd Chrisley was reported rejoicing the win, believing Trump could release him and his wife Julie from prison, The Daily Mail reported.
The reality star couple were found guilty of fraud in 2022 and are both serving a combined sentence of 19 years in federal prison.
Their daughter Savannah had been the couple’s biggest fighter to get them out of prison and has also been a staunch supporter of Trump.
On top of attending rallies for the now President-elect, Savannah also spoke at the Republican National Convention this year, speaking about her parents’ incarceration and the need for prison reform.
A source told the Daily Mail that Todd Chrisley was ecstatic over Trump’s win last week.
“Todd is jumping for joy in prison and is so optimistic that he will be able to walk out of there when Trump takes office,” the source said. “Savannah truly believes that Trump will pardon her parents. Ever since they were convicted she has spent every waking hour campaigning to free them and when she found the loophole through the RNC she jumped on it.”
Todd and Julie were charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax fraud.
Julie Chrisley was also charged with wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
The Chrisleys were initially indicted in August 2019. Prosecutors said the couple submitted fake documents to banks when applying for loans.
Julie Chrisley sent a fake credit report and bank statements showing far more money than they had in their accounts to a California property owner in July 2014 while trying to rent a home.
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A few months after they began using the home, in October 2014, they refused to pay rent, causing the owner to have to threaten them with eviction.
The money the Chrisleys received from their reality television show, “Chrisley Knows Best,” went to a company they controlled called 7C’s Productions, but they didn’t declare it as income on federal tax returns, prosecutors said.
The couple failed to file or pay their federal income taxes on time for multiple years.
The family had moved to Tennessee by the time the indictment was filed but the criminal charges stem from when they lived in Atlanta’s northern suburbs.
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.
Following her speech to the RNC, the source told the Daily Mail that Savannah’s speech was a last-ditch effort to get Trump’s attention and “pulled some serious strings” to get a spot on the RNC stage.
“Savannah knew exactly what she was doing. She has realized that there is nothing she can do anymore to get Todd out of prison and she is desperate.”
Savannah rounded out her speech by saying “Donald J. Trump has only one conviction that matters and that is the conviction to make America great again.”