ATLANTA — Todd and Julie Chrisley’s appeal over their bank fraud and tax evasion conviction will go before a federal judge this week.
In June 2022, a jury found the “Chrisley Knows Best” couple guilty on charges of criminal bank fraud and tax evasion. Their accountant, Peter Tarantino, was convicted of filing two false corporate tax returns.
In Nov. 2022, a federal judge sentenced Todd Chrisley to 12 years in prison, Julie Chrisley to seven years in prison, and Tarantino to three years in prison.
Above and beyond wanting their conviction overturned, the Chrisleys are hoping to at least be granted bond so they can leave federal prison.
The hearing is scheduled for Friday at 9 a.m.
Their daughter has been outspoken about the conditions the couple have been living in since reporting to prison.
Savannah Chrisley said during a recent episode of her podcast that her mother was taking classes as part of the First Step Act, which provides inmates with credits for “an early release,” People Magazine reported.
“I have two classes tonight, too, and also being a judge for one of the other classes. I’m one of the sharks for their Shark Tank presentation,” Julie Chrisley wrote in one of her letters to her daughter.
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According to the Bureau of Prisons, the “reentry programs” are “designed to ensure all sentenced inmates have the skills necessary to succeed upon release,” People said.
Attorney Alex Little said he feels that the First Step Act could help in Julie’s case.
“We don’t know whether the judge would actually apply it in a way to reduce her sentence,” Little said. “We think it should if the judge would have followed the guidelines. And that could happen, you know, this year, early next year.”
Julie Chrisley said she also has a job inside the prison. She didn’t reveal what she was doing but said it was going well.
“I started work on the 27th [of February 2023],” She wrote. “I work Monday through Thursday, 6:00 a.m. until 1. I enjoy it because I stay busy.”
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.
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