Julie and Todd Chrisley were convicted in 2022 for fraudulent loans in Atlanta area community banks from over $30 million.
On May 27, President Donald Trump announced he would soon be pardoning reality TV stars Julie and Todd Chrisley, who were convicted of bank fraud, tax evasion and other financial crimes.
The reality star of the show “Chrisley Knose Best” was convicted in June 2022 of fraudulent loans over $30 million in Atlanta Regional Bank. The pair were convicted of tax evasion.
Trump said he plans to pardon the couple within 24 hours.
On a call Tuesday with the couple’s daughter, Savannah Chrisley, Trump said, “Your parents will be free and clean, so I hope we can do it by tomorrow.”
Trump said the couple “were given them some pretty tough treatment… I heard they’re amazing people, and this shouldn’t happen.”
“President, I just want to say thank you to him for bringing my parents back,” his son, Grayson Chrisley, told Trump during the call.
Savannah Chrisley, who was left as her younger brother’s sole caretaker, has long been seeking the release of the couple. In the pardon petition, the family argued that the conviction was based on an illegal assault and relied on compromised evidence.
Savannah Chrisley also campaigned for Trump as a prison reform advocate. She spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention.
Since being imprisoned, Chrisleys has become known as a defender of federal prison reform, hoping for better conditions for federal prisons.
In November 2022, Todd was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison, while Julie was sentenced to seven years. The couple appealed to their beliefs and maintained their innocence.
At the time, the release from the U.S. Lawyer’s office in the Northern District of Georgia said the couple specifically scamled Atlanta-area banks with personal loans of more than $36 million.
“With the help of a former business partner, Chrisleys obtained the loan by submitting false bank statements, audit reports and personal financial statements to a community bank in Georgia. Kreis spent money on luxury cars, designer clothing, real estate and travel, and used a new, fraudulent loan to pay for the old ones.
“After spending all the money, Todd Chrisley filed for bankruptcy and left over more than $20 million on these fraudulently acquired loans.”
Additionally, the US lawyers’ firm said they also conspired to fraud the IRS with the support of Peter Tarantino, the accountant for the convicted couple.
“To avoid the collection of $500,000 of the delinquent tax owed by Todd Chrisley, Kreis opened in the name of Julie Chrisley to maintain his corporate bank account.
The couple did not file their tax returns between 2013 and 2016, according to the U.S. Lawyer’s Office.
The couple is best known for their reality TV show “Chrisley Knose Best.” This followed his family and introduced himself as a successful real estate tycoon. The show was filmed outside Atlanta and then filmed before moving to Nashville.
“The Growth of Chrisley,” a spin-off focusing on Chase and Savannah Chrisley, premiering in 2019.
The pardon comes after Trump announced he had forgiven Scott Jenkins, a former sheriff of Culpeper County, Virginia.
In January, the president issued a widespread amnesty to some of those arrested in connection with the events of January 6, 2021.
