Todd & Julie Chrisley Found Guilty of Tax Fraud

Todd and Julie Chrisley have been found guilty of tax fraud by a federal jury.

After a three-week trial, the couple were convicted on all counts of tax evasion and bank and wire fraud conspiracy on Tuesday in an Atlanta courtroom.

In a statement, their lawyer Bruce Morrison told People magazine that they were “disappointed in the verdict” and “an appeal is planned.”

They could be sentenced for up to 30 years in prison.

Sentencing will be determined at a later date.

For now, the judge ruled that the couple must remain home until then.

The judge said, “You shall be restricted to your residence at all times except for employment; education; religious service; medical, substance abuse, or mental health treatment; attorney visits; court appearances; court-ordered obligations; or other activities as pre-approved by the Court or probation officer until further notice of the Court. Defendants must alert probation officers to any spending over $1,000. All other conditions are to remain the same.”

In 2019, Todd and Julie were indicted on tax evasion charges in a 12-count indictment. Accountant Peter Tarantino was also charged with “conspiracy to defraud the United States and aiding the filing of a false tax return.”

In a press conference after the indictment, U.S. Attorney Byung J. “Bjay” Pak alleged that Todd Chrisley “directed the falsifying or creation of false documents and directed Co-Conspirator A to submit them” to banks.

The indictment stated that the Chrisleys submitted fake bank and financial statements to get loans worth $30 million “for their own personal benefit.”

The couple were also accused of sending a fabricated credit report and bank statements showing much more money than they actually had in their bank accounts when they were trying to rent a home in California. They eventually got the lease but refused to pay rent in October 2014, leading the property owner to threaten eviction.

Pak also accused the Chrisleys of hiding money from the IRS with the use of their company 7C’s Productions, which received money that they earned from their TV show “Chrisley Knows Best.” The money received was not declared as income in federal tax returns, according to Pak.

The indictment also noted that the Chrisleys didn’t file or pay federal income taxes on time for several years.

Pak stressed, “Just because you’re rich and on a TV show doesn’t mean that the law is not going to come get you when you commit a federal crime.”

Without naming Tarantino, Todd addressed the indictments on Instagram at the time, accusing a former employee of stealing, “creating phony documents, forging our signatures, and threatening other employees with violence if they said anything.”

Chrisley claimed that after being fired, the disgruntled employee retaliated by bringing the “phony documents to the U.S. Attorney’s office and told them we had committed all kinds of financial crimes.”

Todd claimed the employee was able to get the family charged after a second attempt.

Chrisley emphasized, “I’m telling you all this now because we have nothing to hide and have done nothing to be ashamed of. Not only do we know we’ve done nothing wrong, but we’ve got a ton of hard evidence and a bunch of corroborating witnesses that proves it… We know that if and when this goes to court, the truth will prevail and the charges against us will be exposed for the outrageous lies they are.”

Years before the guilty verdict, the Chrisleys’ lawyers said in a separate statement, “The allegations contained in the indictment are based on complete falsehoods. The Chrisleys are innocent of all charges.”