Last week saw the appeal case for Todd and Julie Chrisley finally heard. Here’s what happened.
People magazine reported on the couple’s oral argument session on April 19 in Atlanta. This came just over a year since both were sentenced to prison for fraud and tax evasion.
Neither were in attendance for the hearing, but some of their relatives turned up, including Savannah, Chase, Grayson and Nanny Faye Chrisley. Their family was present to hear the Chrisley’s lawyer claim that misconduct had occurred in the couples’ trials.
What Happened at Todd and Julie Chrisley’s Appeal
Alex Little argued that “the evidence suggested that the prosecutors here worked in concert with the witness.” He went on to claim that some of the way the trial progressed “would have had a potential prejudicial effect on the defendants leading the jury to believe that they had not paid their taxes.”
But, the lawyer argued, the truth was that the Chrisleys had “paid everything before trial” and “the government doesn’t argue that they hadn’t paid.”
He added that “the IRS didn’t know what they were doing.” In response, a representative for the US Attorney’s Office claimed that the evidence was “overwhelming at trial that the Chrisleys had taken a number of steps to evade the IRS.”
However, they also admitted that “if there are credible allegations and some evidence proffered about any sort of government misconduct a hearing should be had.”
The Chrisleys Were Awarded a $1M Settlement
However, many believe that there must have been something wrong with the way the couple’s case was handled. After all, a few months ago, they were awarded a $1 million settlement regarding their lawsuit in which they alleged misconduct in the investigation against them.
A lawyer for the couple reportedly announced the settlement. They will be receiving $1 million from the state of Georgia to resolve their federal lawsuit against Joshua Waites.
Waites is the former Director of Special Investigations of the state’s Department of Revenue. The lawsuit was first filed in 2019. The family lawyer, Alex Little, made a public statement following the announcement of the settlement.
He said, “We have been saying for months that the criminal case against the Chrisleys was highly unusual and had real problems”. He added that the settlement is “an encouraging sign”.
The statement continued, “It’s nearly unprecedented for one arm of the government to pay money to defendants while another arm is fighting to keep them in jail”.
The Chrisley Investigation Lasted Two Years
The investigation into the Chrisleys lasted two years, and eventually led to the couple being cleared of a $2 million state tax evasion charge.
The Chrisley Knows Best stars had been investigated for tax irregularities between 2008 and 2016. But People reported in 2019 that the Georgia Department of Revenue had agreed that they had actually overpaid in four of those years.
And the couple owed nothing for the other four years, according to a press release obtained by People.
In fact, they had a net liability of less than $77,000 in overdue taxes for just one year of incorrect filing. Todd said in a statement at the time, “Julie and I knew all along that we had done nothing wrong and that when the facts all came out, we would be fine”.
After the oral arguments of the appeal came to an end last week, Chase took to social media to thank the family’s supporters who showed up.
Chase and Savannah Chrisley Reacted On Social Media
He wrote on Instagram, “Thank you to everyone who came and showed myself and my family support this morning!!” He went on to add, “God is good!”
Whether or not the arguments were enough to overturn the Chrisleys’ shocking sentences remains to be seen.
Savannah has spent the last year very involved in her parents’ sentencing and trying to get them out of prison. She’s dedicated many podcast episodes to her parents’ appeal, which is what made it even stranger when she chose to upload a podcast episode with Grayson after their parents’ oral arguments were heard.
In the episode, Grayson seemed to be sick of talking about his parents and their prison sentence. He explained that he wants to go to college early for one pretty major reason.
Grayson Chrisley Wants to Take a Step Back
He told Savannah that he wants to go to college early so that he doesn’t have to hear about his parents’ situation all the time. He even said that he’d like to be able to spend his weekends having his own plans.
Savannah has talked a lot about how she, Grayson, and Chloe go to visit one of their parents almost every weekend Todd is currently serving a ten-year prison sentence in Pensacola, Florida, and Julie is serving a five year prison sentence in Lexington, Kentucky.
Todd’s sentence was originally 12 years, and Julie’s was originally 7 years, but both had their sentences reduced after they participated in different programs to get their sentences reduced.
Because of how far both of their parents are from Nashville, where Savannah, Grayson, and Chloe live, they’re forced to dedicate entire weekends to visiting each parent. According to Savannah and Grayson in previous podcast episodes, it’s very emotionally-taxing for them to visit as frequently as they do.
So it makes sense that Grayson wants a break from constantly thinking about his parents and what they’re going through. He said that he’d like to be like his other siblings who aren’t as involved, and seemed to call out Chase for being like that.
Grayson Changed His Mind About College
One of the most interesting reveals in the podcast, though, is that Grayson had previously been very outspoken about NOT wanting to attend college at all.
At the time, he said that he didn’t see the point in going to college, because he believed that he could start a career in what he wanted to do without going to college. He also said that he thought that most kids went to college just to party, and he had no interest in that.
So the fact that not only does he now want to attend college, but he also wants to go to college early is especially shocking. He acknowledged his change of heart, and seemed to blame it on wanting to have a life outside of Savannah’s control over him.
According to the podcast, Savannah is extremely against the idea of Grayson going to college early, because she believes that he’s too young, and also because she thinks that now he just wants to go early so that he can party.
Throughout the podcast, most of what they talked about was about Grayson’s want to go to college early. Interestingly, Savannah talked about just how affected Grayson is by his parents’ situation right now.
Savannah Said that Grayson Has Been Struggling
She said that after the oral arguments were completed, Grayson had a panic attack due to the trauma and PTSD from being back in the same courtroom where his parents had previously been convicted and sentenced. She explained that he had wanted to go, but it was very difficult for him to be there.
She also explained that they all got stuck in an elevator in the courthouse. She said that there were 12 people on the elevator, and she had already been extremely anxious the entire night and day before. She began to feel claustrophobic as more people got on the elevator, and then it got stuck.
She said that she began undressing in the elevator because of how hot the elevator was and how anxious she was. She even explained that she had to take her Spanx off because of how claustrophobic she felt.
She finally said that they were ultimately stuck on the elevator for 15 minutes and that she was hoping that it meant good luck for her parents’ appeal.
What’s Next for Todd and Julie?
Ultimately, it could be at least a year before anything comes out of the oral arguments. According to Savannah, it could be a month or so, or it could be up to a year before they hear anything. And she said that the next morning, she got on a flight to go see her dad in Pensacola for the weekend.
Lastly, she talked about how she’s in her fighting era, she’s ready for justice to be served, and she and the kids are ready for her parents to come home.
But for right now, all we know is that we’re waiting for the decision to come back from federal courts after this latest appeal update.
