What the future holds. Todd and Julie Chrisley were convicted of tax evasion and fraud earlier this month, but a lot of questions still remain — including how much prison time they could be facing.
“It’s pretty serious,” Beverly Hills-based legal analyst Jeffrey W. Steinberger, who is not affiliated with the case, exclusively tells Us Weekly. “It’s significant in two ways: one, it’s an enormous [monetary] number, and significantly enormous numbers draw enormous jail time. Secondly, since they have been on the air and are famous personalities, most prosecutors tend to give heavier sentences to bank fraud and tax fraud cases in an effort to deter non-celebrity people from committing the same crimes.”
The Chrisley Knows Best star, 53, and his wife, 49, were convicted on charges of tax evasion, bank and wire fraud and conspiracy after a trial that concluded on June 7. After the duo’s indictment in 2019, Todd denied the allegations against them in a lengthy statement, claiming that the charges stemmed from former employee Mark Braddock‘s attempt to get “revenge” on the couple.
“He took a bunch of his phony documents to the U.S. Attorney’s office and told them we had committed all kinds of financial crimes, like tax evasion and bank fraud,” the Georgia native said at the time.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Annalise Peters, meanwhile, alleged that Todd and Julie obtained more than $30 million in loans by lying about their income. “They made up documents and they lie through their teeth to get whatever they want, whenever they want it,” the lawyer said in court.
The USA personalities aren’t allowed to talk about the results of the trial or their upcoming October 6 sentencing, but they recently opened up about the aftermath of the verdict on an episode of their “Chrisley Confessions” podcast.
“We wanted to let everyone know that it’s a very sad, heartbreaking time for our family right now,” Todd said on Friday, June 17. “But we still hold steadfast in our faith and we trust that God will do what he does because God’s a miracle worker — and that’s what we’re holding out for.”
The second half of Chrisley Knows Best‘s ninth season is set to premiere on Thursday, June 23, but the trial won’t be covered in the new episodes. Earlier this month, an insider confirmed to Us that filming was completed before the trial began, noting that production on season 10 also hasn’t started yet.
“They aren’t sure what this means for the future of Chrisley Knows Best and all their other projects that were in the works,” a source told Us after the conviction. “No one knows what’s going to happen or what to do at this stage.”
Keep scrolling for more details on what the Chrisleys can expect from their sentencing later this year.
