A complete timeline of Todd and Julie Chrisley's rise and fall, from reality TV fame to 19-year sentence for bank fraud and tax evasion
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- Todd and Julie Chrisley are currently serving a combined 19-year sentence for fraud convictions.
- They rose to fame showcasing their over-the-top lifestyles on their TV show, "Chrisley Knows Best."
- Here's a complete timeline of their legal troubles, which began before they became reality TV stars.
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The couple rose to reality TV fame in 2014 with the premiere of their reality TV show, "Chrisley Knows Best."
The show centered around Todd, a real estate mogul, self-made millionaire, and father with dreams of opening a department store with his real estate company, Chrisley & Company.
While the department store never panned out, Vice reported that at the time of the show's launch, Todd Chrisley felt "fashion was his calling."
The focus of the reality series then shifted focus to Todd's life at home with his God-loving, straight-talking wife, Julie, and their large brood, comprised of children Lindsie, Kyle, Chase, Savannah, Grayson, and granddaughter, Chloe.
"While their lifestyle is over-the-top and their personalities are larger-than-life, the Chrisleys are a very close-knit family who are refreshingly honest and genuinely funny," a spokesman for USA Network said ahead of the show's premiere, the New York Daily News reported.
For the first half of the series, the family lived in a 30,000-square-foot mansion north of Atlanta and then relocated to a $3.4 million home in Nashville, Bravo reported in 2019.
Before the series was canceled in light of Todd and Julie's convictions, it spawned several spinoffs, including "Growing Up Chrisley," which followed kids Chase and Savannah; "According to Chrisley," an after-show hosted by Todd; and "What's Cooking With Julie Chrisley," a cooking web series hosted by Julie.
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The show did not mention Todd's financial struggles but showcased the family's immense wealth and extravagant spending habits.
"In a year, we sometimes spend $300,000 or more, just on clothing," Todd boasted to cameras in 2014.
However, in a court document from August 2012, the businessman said he had just $55 in a checking account and $100 in cash, after filing a petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection for almost $50 million.
One of his lawyers at the time, Robert Furr, told People that while Todd had $4.2 million in assets, he had racked up nearly $50 million in debt, partly due to poor real estate investments.
According to People, along with the business debt, Todd had several mortgages totaling $12 million, a $4.4 million loan from his wife, and a delinquent IRS bill for almost $600,000.
Per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a judge in the case granted Todd's request for relief and erased $20 million of the debt in 2012.
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At the Chrisleys' November 2022 sentencing, the US Attorney's Office said the couple neither filed tax returns nor paid any taxes for the 2013, 2014, 2015, or 2016 tax years.
As Business Insider's Haven Orecchio-Egresitz reported from the courtroom, from 2013 to 2016, the couple made $6 million from "Chrisley Knows Best." The money from the show was paid to the Chrisleys' company, 7C's Productions, but was not declared as income in federal tax returns.
"It's clear that Mr. and Mrs. Chrisley were starring in a TV show and they were compensated handsomely as a result," US Attorney Byung J. BJay Pak said in a press conference when the couple was indicted in 2019. "That money was hidden from the IRS."
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The day after the Chrisleys discovered that they were being investigated and the 7C's Productions account had been provided to the IRS, Julie took her name off the account and replaced it with her mother-in-law's, a Bank of America employee testified at the couple's federal trial.
Prosecutors said at their indictment that the switch was made to keep the IRS from taking money from the account.
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The couple was cleared of a state tax evasion charge in Georgia after they were charged with evading over $2 million in state taxes between 2008 and 2016.
The settlement indicated that the couple had overpaid several of those years and received a refund of more than $66,000, according to WXIA of Atlanta. They did owe the state money for one year ($214,118 in 2009) and agreed to pay just under $150,000 to settle the case.
In a press release, Todd said he and Julie "knew all along that we had done nothing wrong and that when the facts all came out, we would be fine."
However, the couple was not out of the woods completely — while this was going on, a federal grand jury in Atlanta had indicted the couple on charges of conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion.
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The Chrisleys were indicted by a federal grand jury in 2019 and accused by prosecutors of evading taxes and operating a conspiracy to defraud banks by making it appear that they were wealthier than they were.
They were indicted on 12 counts of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and tax evasion. The Chrisleys' accountant, Peter Tarantino, was indicted on tax-related offenses.
Todd and Julie denied the crimes but turned themselves in.
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During the trial, prosecutors alleged that the Chrisleys and their accountant submitted fake documents that fabricated their wealth to banks when applying for loans between 2007 and 2012, and hid the income from their reality TV show from the IRS.
The Chrisleys' main defense was that the man who turned them into the FBI was a fraudster.
In opening statements, their lawyer blamed all bank fraud and tax evasion on Mark Braddock — a former business partner who testified at the trial that he and Todd had a "relationship of an intimate nature" in the early 2000s.
Braddock admitted to committing bank and tax fraud on the Chrisleys' behalf.
He was given immunity from his crimes for testifying.
Lauren Lacy
After less than three days of deliberations, the jury in the Atlanta federal trial found Todd, Julie, and their accountant guilty on all charges relating to running a yearslong conspiracy to defraud banks and hiding their money from the IRS.
The prosecutors successfully proved that the couple went to great lengths to manipulate financial records and inflate their apparent wealth so they could live a flashy lifestyle they couldn't afford.
Todd was convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to defraud the US, and tax fraud.
Julie was convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to defraud the US, tax fraud, and wire fraud.
Tarantino was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the US and willfully filing false tax returns.
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As Business Insider reported at the time, under the terms of release, Todd and Julie were ordered to stay home at all times unless they were at work, school, religious service, or seeking medical care.
Per the order, they also needed to alert their probation officers any time they spent over $1,000.
During this period, Todd and Julie used their podcast, "Chrisley Confessions," as their main way to communicate with fans.
In the eight months between their trial and the eventual commencement of their sentences, they continued to release weekly episodes.
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Their sentences were announced almost five months after they were found guilty.
Todd, 54, who prosecutors called the "mastermind" of the couple's yearslong tax and bank fraud scheme, was sentenced to 12 years.
Julie, 50, who prosecutors believed played a lesser role, was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Tarantino was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in committing fraud on his clients' behalf.
Following their jail time, all three were also sentenced to 16 months of probation.
Both Todd and Julie were sentenced below what the federal sentencing guidelines laid out — and less than what prosecutors in the case asked for — due to their age, health, and the fact that they care for Todd's mother, Elizabeth "Nanny Faye" Chrisley, who has bladder cancer, and other relatives.
USA Network
After being sentenced, Todd choked up over what he described as an "enormously sad day" for his family and asked the court to give his wife less prison time, Business Insider's Azmi Haroun and Haven Orecchio-Egresitz reported.
"My wife, Julie, should not be punished," he said in his statement as he stressed that his wife was the caregiver for their children, Grayson and Chloe, who were both minors at the time.
"I'm most concerned for Chloe and Grayson," Julie said through sobs at the sentencing. "To hear your 10-year-old say she doesn't want to live if their mom goes away, no child should feel that way."
Julie's request to stay in home confinement until their adopted daughter is an adult was ultimately denied by the court.
Following their sentencing, the couple's eldest daughter together, Savannah, said she had taken custody of the couple's then 16-year-old son and 10-year-old adopted daughter, Chloe.
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Todd and Julie reported to the federal Bureau of Prisons to commence their sentences on January 17, 2023.
Their accountant, meanwhile, reported to prison on May 1, 2023.
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Todd reported to the Federal Prison Camp, Pensacola, in Pensacola, Florida, a minimum security prison about 450 miles from where the couple lived in Nashville.
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Julie asked to serve her sentence at the Florida Correctional Institute, Tallahassee, just under 500 miles south of the family's base in Nashville, but was assigned to FCI Marianna in Marianna, Florida.
However, in January 2023, she was sent to neither and is serving her sentence at Federal Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky, the Bureau of Prisons told Business Insider.
It is unclear how long Julie will be at the minimum-security medical center — which is more than 650 miles from Todd's prison — or why she was sent there.
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The Chrisleys maintain that they are innocent. After their motion for bail pending their appeal was denied, their lawyers have begun to appeal their sentences.
Speaking on Savannah's podcast, "Unlocked With Savannah Chrisley," in August 2023, the family's lawyer, Alex Little, said a judge hasn't "reviewed any of the arguments" in their appeal yet.
"The government hasn't even filed their response to our appeal yet, they've asked for more time once, more time twice," he continued. "That's going to happen in two weeks so we'll see in two weeks what the government's answer to these issues might be."
USA Network
"Chrisley Knows Best" was renewed for a 10th season in May 2022, a month before their trial began. After their sentencing in November, Deadline reported that the show had been canceled, but not before the family got together to film.
Between February and March 2023, eight episodes of "Chrisley Knows Best" aired on the USA Network, with very little promotion from the broadcaster or the family members.
The last episode to air saw Todd, Chase, and Savannah enjoy a ski trip to Lake Tahoe, California.
Todd shared a photo from the trip on his Instagram page, indicating that filming for the reality show concluded sometime in March 2022, two months before their trial.
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In an episode of "Unlocked with Savannah Chrisley" released in August 2023, the reality star spoke with her guest, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, about accessibility to mental health resources.
Savannah said she's spent "thousands of dollars a month for therapists, for psychologists" for herself and her two younger siblings, Grayson and Chloe, since their parents entered prison at the start of the year.
"I am blessed and fortunate enough to be able to do that," she said. "But the everyday person may not have those resources."
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Todd's scheduled release date from FPC Pensacola got bumped up to January 22, 2033, which is about two years sooner than his initial 12-year sentence, according to federal prison records.
Meanwhile, Julie's release from FMC Lexington advanced from 2030 to October 19, 2028, records indicate — one year and three months short of her original seven-year sentence.
"Without a doubt, Todd and Julie are model incarcerated individuals who received exorbitant sentences," their attorney, Jay Surgent, told Business Insider. "I believe Todd is down to 10 years and Julie is now at five years."
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In a video posted to Instagram the week of Thanksgiving, Savannah shared that she had received a phone call notifying her that oral arguments in her parents' case are expected to begin the week of March 25, 2024.
She said as a result her parents are "one step closer" to returning home, and shared the statistic that "only about 6% of cases that are submitted for oral arguments get accepted. So this is huge news."
In the caption of her post, Savannah added that the oral arguments represent a "critical" point in the almost yearlong journey to appeal her parents' conviction.
NBCUniversal
The reality TV stars were awarded a $1 million settlement in a lawsuit against the Georgia official who uncovered their bank fraud and tax evasion.
They accused Joshua Waites, the state's former Department of Revenue director of special investigations, of abusing his position when it came to investigating tax claims, per a 2019 lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, seen by Business Insider, the Chrisleys alleged that Waites pursued an "increasingly aggressive relationship" with the Chrisleys' daughter, Lindsie Chrisley Campbell, to get her "to reveal compromising information about her family."
Alex Little, a lawyer for the couple, called the settlement win an "encouraging sign" for the Chrisleys ahead of their appeal.
This article was originally published on August 1, 2023, and was most recently updated on January 11, 2024.
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