ATLANTA — The federal government has told convicted reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley that they want the nearly $1 million settlement from the state of Georgia over a lawsuit claiming they were targeted for state tax evasion charges because they are famous.
The federal lawsuit was filed against Joshua Waites, the former Director of Special Investigations for the Georgia Department of Revenue. Waites was ultimately fired in March 2020 for falsifying his education credentials.
The lawsuit by the Chrisleys claimed Waites unfairly targeted them so he could bask in the media spotlight that came with taking down television stars.
The lawsuit said Waites tried to get dirt on the Chrisleys by cultivating a relationship with Todd Chrisley’s estranged daughter, Lindsie Chrisley Campbell. In the process, he allegedly broke federal law by sharing confidential tax and grand jury information, the suit claims. Waites sent numerous text messages to Campbell, giving her a blow-by-blow of the investigation and also revealing that his agents had put a photo of her father on a dart board and a punching bag, it claimed.
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Last month, the Chrisleys got a nearly $1 million settlement from the state of Georgia to put the suit to rest.
The Chrisleys were ultimately cleared of the state tax evasion charges, but that wasn’t the end of their legal troubles.
Shortly after being awarded the settlement from the state, the federal government filed a notice that they wanted the money, saying they had a right to it to help pay off the Chrisleys’ $17 million restitution from their fraud conviction in June 2022.
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 in June 2022.
The Chrisleys are serving a combined 15 years in prison with Todd in custody in Florida and Julie serving time in Kentucky. They were originally sentenced to 19 years, but the sentences were reduced in September 2023.
Todd and Julie Chrisley are in the process of appealing their conviction.
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