Todd and Julie Chrisley, stars of the American reality TV show Chrisley Knows Best, have been sentenced to prison after being convicted of tax evasion and defrauding banks of millions of dollars. While Todd Chrisley was handed a federal prison sentence of 12 years, his wife, Julie, was sentenced to seven years, according to the US Department of Justice.
The reality show, which premiered in 2014, features 54-year-old Todd Chrisley, a multimillionaire real estate developer, his wife Julie, and their five children.
The couple was convicted on June 7 this year of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, wired fraud, and tax evasion. Ms Chrisley, 49, was convicted of an additional charge of obstruction of justice while the couple's accountant, Peter Tarantino, was convicted of multiple-tax related violations.
The US District Court in Atlanta, US, awarded a prison sentence to the TV stars after a jury trial that lasted for nearly three weeks. According to US Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan, the two conspired to dupe community banks in Atlanta of over $36 million through personal loans. The attorney added that they submitted false bank statements, personal financial statements, and audit reports to banks to obtain loans with the help of their former business partner.
They spent the borrowed money on their lavish lifestyle, real estate, designer clothes, luxury cars and travel, and sought more loans to pay back the old ones. After exhausting their funds, Todd Chrisley filed for bankruptcy to avoid settling dues of more than $20 million.
The court also found the stars guilty of conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service with their accountant. Todd Chrisley evaded taxes to the tune of more than half a million dollars and the two also failed to pay tax returns in 2013, 2104, 2015 or 2016.
Besides Todd and Julie Chrisley, Judge Eleanor . Ross awarded a prison sentence of three years to Tarantino followed by three years of supervised release. In addition, the court ordered the couple to pay restitution whose amount will be decided later.
