Former Atlanta billionaires and reality tv stars , Todd and Julie Chrisley , have lost their charge to reverse their views on bank fraud and national tax evasion costs, for which they are serving 12 and seven-year , prison sentences, both.
The Atlanta-based federal appeals court upheld the Chrisleys ‘ convictions Friday. According to the judge, the judge did not explain why Julie Chrisley was held accountable for all the money the couple’s allegedly lost as a result of their fraud, and it ordered an Atlanta trial judge to resent her.
The appeals court stated that” we affirm the district court on all issues, aside from the loss amount attributed to Julie.” We revoke Julie’s sentence and place her on the district court solely to make the facts and calculations necessary to determine loss, restitution, and forfeiture as to Julie and resent her in response.
The husband and wife, who were the stars of reality television show ,” Chrisley Knows Best” , , were jointly , ordered to pay ,$ 17.2 million in restitution after being , found guilty , of fraudulently obtaining$ 36 million in bank loans and hiding millions of dollars in income to avoid paying federal taxes.
Their attorney , argued in April , that Todd Chrisley, 56, who was found guilty of eight charges, should be acquitted on two tax-related charges and granted a new trial on the remaining counts. He claimed that the jury heard false testimony and witnessed evidence from an illegal warehouse raid.
Julie Chrisley, 51, wanted to be acquitted on five bank fraud charges and resentenced on five other counts. She opposed the$ 17.2 million forfeiture order allowing prosecutors to seize their property and the$ 17.2 million restitution that both Chrisleys were required to pay.
Peter Tarantino, the couple’s former accountant, also wanted his convictions to be overturned. After being found guilty of three tax evasion-related charges, Tarantino was sentenced to three years in prison and fined$ 35, 000. Together, the Chrisleys and Tarantino were prosecuted and asked for a new trial.
Tarantino’s convictions and sentence were also upheld Friday.
The Chrisleys became wealthy while working in real estate and were able to land a family-focused reality television program in late 2013. Cameras followed them around Roswell and Alpharetta before they moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 2016. They were charged in August of this year.
Prosecutors criticized the Chrisleys ‘ apparent greed at their sentencing in November 2022, claiming they were already making more than$ 600,000 per month when they fraudulently obtained$ 36 million in bank loans over several years. According to the federal government, the couple allegedly defrauded nearly a dozen community banks in the Atlanta area between 2006 and 2006. The 29 loans at issue helped put three banks into receivership, records show.
The Chrisleys blamed the bank fraud on a former manager of their Atlanta-based real estate business, Mark Braddock, who was the government’s key informant and witness in the case. He received immunity from prosecution.
The Chrisleys ‘ tax evasion convictions stemmed from their inability to timely file federal tax returns and pay outstanding taxes over a number of years. To conceal Todd Chrisley’s income, the prosecution claimed they lied to the IRS by using the company they used to collect his outstanding taxes.
According to the prosecution, Todd Chrisley filed for bankruptcy in 2012 after being discharged from more than$ 20 million in bank loan debt. They claimed he owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal taxes that date back to 2009.
By the time the Chrisleys were sentenced, they had already paid the taxes due from the federal government.
During sentencing, the trial judge said she could n’t ignore the couple’s “egregious greed and flamboyance”, after watching a clip from their television show in which Todd Chrisley boasted about their 30, 000-square-foot house north of Atlanta and yearly clothing bill in excess of$ 300, 000.
The Georgia Department of Revenue conducted separate investigations into the couple’s state income taxes. The department , settled its tax evasion case against them , in 2019.
The Chrisleys recently settled for$ 1 million a , civil case they brought , against a department official in relation to the state’s investigation. In April, a Georgia jury , ordered Todd Chrisley to pay$ 755, 000 , to another department investigator whom he slandered in podcasts and on social media.
The couple ‘s , prison sentences began , in January 2023. Todd Chrisley is in a minimum security prison in Pensacola, Florida. Julie Chrisley is in a prison facility in Lexington, Kentucky.
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