Reality star Julie Chrisley was re-sentenced to seven years behind bars on Wednesday as a judge denied her request to reduce her prison time for her tax evasion and bank fraud conviction.
The female half of the reality power couple on “Chrisley Knows Best,” Julie Chrisley skyrocketed to fame alongside her husband, Todd Chrisley, as they invited the viewing public into their tight-knit family’s lavish lifestyle.
In 2022. they were found guilty of conspiring to defraud community banks out of more than $30 million in loans and of hiding their earnings to lower their tax bill.
In June of this year a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the couple’s convictions. They also found a legal error made by the trial judge, who calculated Julie Chrisley’s sentence as if she were accountable for the entire duration of the bank bilking scheme rather than just a portion, so her case was kicked back to the lower court for a redo. Her attorneys had requested a maximum term of five years.
Todd Chrisley’s 12-year sentence was upheld. While his wife’s sentence remained the same, the amount of restitution and forfeiture Chrisley was liable for was reduced.
“This was an 11-year journey of fraud after fraud after fraud,” Prosecutor Annalise Peters said, according to the Journal-Constitution. “Even after the defendant knew that she was under investigation for bank fraud, she went on to commit at least three different types of fraud.”
Chrisley’s attorneys also asked U.S. District Judge Eleanor L. Ross to take into account the impact of the sentence on her children, especially her two youngest, who are 11 and 18. But Ross said being a parent did not exempt someone from facing the consequences of their actions, and that the kids were best served by seeing their parents take responsibility.
Chrisley publicly apologizing for her actions for the first time, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“I cannot ever repay my children for what they’ve had to go through, and for that I’m sorry,” she said through tears in court before her two eldest children, Savannah and Chase Chrisley. “I apologize for my actions and what led me to where I am today.”
With News Wire Services
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