Donald Trump has reportedly pardoned reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley.
The multimillionaire couple, whose show Chrisley Knows Best ran from 2014 to 2023, were convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud in 2022.
According to People, President Trump called their children to tell them: “It's a terrible thing but it's a great thing, because your parents are going to be free and clean. I hope we can do it by tomorrow.”
The Independent has approached the Chrisley family for comment.
Todd Chrisley and his wife, Julie, were found guilty of conspiring to defraud community banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans in 2022. Prosecutors said the couple walked away from their responsibility for repayment when Todd Chrisley declared bankruptcy.
They also were both found guilty of tax evasion and conspiring to defraud the IRS, while Julie was convicted of wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
Julie Chrisley was sentenced to seven years in federal prison, and Todd Chrisley got 12 years behind bars. The couple was also ordered to pay $17.8 million in restitution. The couple have been appealing their case since being sentenced in November 2022.
Todd has been serving his sentence at a minimum security federal prison camp and previously had a release date of June 2032, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Julie is at a facility in Lexington, Kentucky, and was not set to be released until April 2028.
The couple are known to be longtime Trump supporters.
In February, Todd Chrisley’s attorney claimed that guards at FPC Pensacola removed a MAGA (Make America Great Again) sticker from his cell. At the time, Chrisley’s lawyer Jay Surgent said he was hopeful Trump would soon grant him a pardon.
“It will be up to President Trump to review their cases,” Surgent told TMZ at the time. “Todd has faith he will be given due consideration because he feels that he never received constitutional protections in a fair criminal justice system.”
Last October, Surgent revealed to The Independent that Chrisley had been fired from his job in prison because of interactions with fellow inmates, though he offered few details.
Surgent said Chrisley had an administrative role in the prison chapel as an assistant to the Chaplain, helping with “the set-up for religious procedures for various religious affiliations that are Christian, Jewish, and Muslim.”
He lost his job and access to his small office because he “was speaking with various inmates” who were a part of the prison’s Residental Drug Abuse Program (RDAP), Surgent said. He claimed Chrisley “wasn't even given any reason for” why he was dismissed from the position after two years.
Surgent shared his belief that prison officials didn’t want Chrisley to be associated with inmates in the RDAP because they “get to go out into the community during the day and work,” while sleeping at the facility at night.
He also noted that Chrisley “has a history of reporting problems that exist in his institution in Pensacola,” which is why the attorney believes that prison officials didn’t want him to speak to these inmates.
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