The couple was convicted in 2022 of conspiracy to defraud banks out of more than $30 million
President Donald Trump said he will pardon reality TV stars Julie and Todd Chrisley, who were convicted of conspiracy to defraud banks out of more than $30 million in 2022.
Trump’s Communications Advisor Margo Martin posted a video to social platform X on Tuesday of the president speaking on the phone to the couple’s daughter, Savannah Chrisley, announcing the news of their pardons.
“It’s a terrible thing, but it’s a great thing because your parents are going to be free and clean, and I hope we can do it by tomorrow,” Trump told Savannah in the video. “We’re try getting it done tomorrow. I don’t know them, but give them my regards and wish them a good life.”
Before Julie and Todd Chrisley became reality stars, prosecutors previously alleged, the couple used falsified documents to obtain fraudulent loans, then took out more fraudulent loans to pay off their old ones. The couple was also convicted of tax evasion, with prosecutors alleging they defaulted on more than $20 million in debt when Todd declared bankruptcy in 2012.
Todd was sentenced to 12 years in prison, Julie to seven, and the couple’s accountant, Peter Tarantino, also received three years for his role in the scheme. The Chrisleys were ordered to pay $17.8 million in restitution.
In the press release announcing their 2022 prison sentence, U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said “their lengthy sentences reflect the magnitude of their criminal scheme and should serve as a warning to others tempted to exploit our nation’s community banking system for unlawful personal gain.”
Last summer, a three-judge panel on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that a trial judge had incorrectly calculated Chrisley’s sentence by holding her accountable for the whole bank fraud scheme. The appellate panel sent her case back to the lower court so her she could be resentenced.
She was resentenced to seven years in prison by a federal judge last September for her conviction on bank fraud and tax evasion charges, declining her appeal for a reduced sentence.
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