Reflecting on the situation. Days before she and Todd Chrisley were sentenced to a combined 19 years behind bars, Julie Chrisley opened up about the lessons she learned from her legal troubles.
“I think about the situation that we’re dealing with right now, and I’m thinking about I’ve never gone out here and hurt a soul,” Julie, 47, explained on daughter Savannah Chrisley‘s “Unlocked” podcast, which was pre-taped and released on Tuesday, November 29. “I have never gone out here and intentionally tried to do anything that I wasn’t supposed to do, and look where I’m standing right now. How is that right?”
In the pre-recorded episode, Julie discussed her state of mind after being found guilty of tax evasion, bank and wire fraud and conspiracy in June. Savannah, 25, for her part, also slammed the justice system in response to her mother and father’s predicament.
“Why do we continue to fail people? It tears families apart,” Savannah said. “Look at everything that we’re going through. How is that just? It’s not when you’ve got rapists and murderers and traffickers and all these people out here but yet, what? They just get a slap on the wrist.”
She added: “It all goes down to us being in the public eye and someone wanting to prove a point. And it’s honestly sad. At this point, I feel like, for me, I’ve kinda become numb to it but that numbness has turned to anger, to where now, it’s just like I’m not giving up. There’s no other option.”
Shortly after recording the podcast, Julie was ordered to seven years in prison while her husband, 53, was issued a 12-year prison sentence.
“Yesterday was a difficult day for the Chrisley family,” the couple’s attorney, Alex Little, said in a statement to Us Weekly on November 22. “But Todd and Julie are people of faith, and that faith gives them strength as they appeal their convictions.”
The lawyer claimed that the pair’s trial was “marred by serious and repeated errors, including the government lying to jurors about what taxes the couple paid.” He concluded: “Based on these issues, we are optimistic about the road ahead.”
At the time, a source exclusively told Us that Julie was distraught after the judge’s official ruling. “She didn’t think she’d have to serve time and that she would be able to serve time from home,” the insider explained. “They have said they are being made an example of because they are public figures. But it’s all just excuses for their behavior instead of accepting it.”
Scroll down for Julie’s most candid comments amid her legal issues: