This story has been updated.
Federal prosecutors are urging an Atlanta judge to again impose a seven-year prison sentence on former reality television star Julie Chrisley when she appears in court next week to be resentenced on bank fraud and tax evasion charges.
Chrisley, 51, is in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service ahead of her Sept. 25 resentencing hearing in Atlanta’s federal trial court, where she will don a custodial uniform. She is expected to file a request for a reduced sentence by the end of the week.
But prosecutors are asking the court to stay the course, writing in a Monday filing: “For the reasons set forth in the government’s original sentencing memorandum, and for the reasons announced by this court at the original sentencing hearing, the government will recommend the court impose a sentence of 84 months’ imprisonment.”
Whatever new sentence is imposed, Julie Chrisley is expected to receive credit for the time she’s already served. She began her prison sentence in January 2023.
Chrisley’s attorney asked the trial court on Wednesday to allow her to wear civilian clothing during the resentencing hearing, arguing that would “ensure her right to a fair and impartial hearing.” Criminal defendants who are in custody are often allowed to wear civilian clothing when appearing in court before a jury to eliminate any prejudice associated with prison garb.
But U.S. District Judge Eleanor L. Ross denied the request, noting that Julie Chrisley won’t be appearing in front of a jury for the resentencing.
“The court finds that there is no danger of her clothing impacting her right to have a fair and impartial proceeding,” the judge said in an order. “The court will therefore follow its normal protocol for custodial defendants.”
It will be the first time that Julie Chrisley has appeared in court in a custodial uniform. She was on bond through her trial and sentencing and up until she began her prison sentence.
Chrisley previously asked to participate in the resentencing hearing remotely from a Kentucky prison, to avoid an almost 400-mile trip shackled in a prison van. That request was denied.
She and her husband, Todd Chrisley, were found guilty in 2022 of fraudulently obtaining $36 million in bank loans and hiding their income to avoid paying more than $500,000 in federal taxes. They were sentenced to seven and 12 years behind bars, respectively, and ordered to pay more than $17 million in restitution and forfeit the same amount.
In June, the Atlanta-based federal appeals court upheld the Chrisleys’ convictions, but ruled that Julie Chrisley must be resentenced. The appellate court found sufficient evidence that Julie Chrisley had participated in the bank fraud scheme from 2007 to 2012, but said it wasn’t clear that she was involved in the conspiracy when it began in 2006.
Prosecutors told the trial court Monday that they don’t plan to introduce new or additional evidence about when Julie Chrisley joined the bank fraud conspiracy. Instead, prosecutors contend she is responsible for banks losing $4.7 million.
That amount is “the actual loss incurred after Julie’s real estate company received its first fraudulent loan on July 11, 2007,” prosecutors said.
Julie Chrisley’s attorney, who did not immediately comment, must submit her resentencing request three business days before she’s due in court. The resentencing hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. on Sept. 25.
Prosecutors said a seven-year prison sentence is reasonable and within the recommended guidelines, even after taking into account the reduced loss amount, upon which Julie Chrisley’s restitution and forfeiture should now be based.
At the initial sentencing in November 2022, prosecutors asked that Julie Chrisley be imprisoned for 12 years. Ross said the seven-year sentence factored in Julie Chrisley’s age and health and that she was a caregiver for minor children and elderly parents.
The Chrisleys, who got rich working in real estate, lived in Atlanta when they landed a reality television show about their family in 2013. They moved to Nashville before they were indicted in 2019.
Todd Chrisley, 56, is in a minimum security prison in Pensacola, Florida. Julie Chrisley has been serving her sentence in a prison facility in Lexington, Kentucky.
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