Former reality television stars and Atlanta multimillionaires Todd and Julie Chrisley will ask President Donald Trump for a pardon to end their time in federal prison, their attorney says. Jay Surgent, part of the couple’s defense team, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that their petition for a pardon will be filed “without a doubt.”
“There’s no question about that,” Surgent said Thursday, adding the timing of the petition has yet to be decided.
Todd and Julie Chrisley were sentenced to 12 and seven years, respectively, after an Atlanta jury found them guilty of federal bank fraud and tax evasion charges. The jury found they had defrauded Atlanta-area banks of $36 million and hidden millions of dollars in income from their reality television show, “Chrisley Knows Best,” to avoid paying taxes. Todd Chrisley, 56, is serving his sentence in a Florida prison while Julie Chrisley, 52, is in a Kentucky prison.
Surgent said the Chrisleys were unfairly prosecuted, received unreasonable sentences and have been targeted in prison due to their notoriety and public complaints about the federal justice system. He said Todd Chrisley recently had “Make America Great Again” stickers torn off a chair and other parts of his cell by prison guards.
“The pardon petition would not only be based on the fact that they’re targeted or they were given what we believe are unreasonable sentences,” Surgent said. “It’s more complicated than that.”
Surgent said the Chrisleys’ constitutional rights were violated as they were investigated and prosecuted. He said evidence that should have been suppressed was presented at trial, and that some evidence was altered and misinterpreted.
The Atlanta-based federal appeals court that has six Trump-appointed judges upheld the Chrisleys’ convictions in June 2024, but ruled Julie Chrisley had to 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.
In September, Julie Chrisley was resentenced to seven years in prison after publicly apologizing for the first time in court. The judge reduced the amount of restitution that Julie Chrisley has to pay from $17.2 million to $4.7 million.
Immediately after the resentencing hearing, Todd and Julie Chrisley’s daughter, Savannah Chrisley, told the AJC that she’d spoken with Trump, but not specifically about pardoning her parents. She spoke at the Republican National Convention in July and said her conversations with Trump were “nothing but full of love and support.”
Julie Chrisley appealed her new sentence, accusing the trial court judge of being biased against her and her family. Prosecutors have until Feb. 20 to respond. There is no deadline for the appellate court’s ruling.
Surgent said the Chrisleys can file their petition for a pardon at any time.
Todd Chrisley is due to be moved to a different prison in September, when the one he is currently in closes. Surgent said he hopes Todd Chrisley will be moved to another prison within 500 miles of the family’s home in Nashville. “The family wants them as close to home as possible,” he said.
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