Reality TV star Julie Chrisley to be re-sentenced in bank fraud and tax evasion case

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal choose was set to re-sentence actuality TV star Julie Chrisley on Wednesday after an appeals court docket ordered a brand new sentence for her conviction on financial institution fraud and tax evasion expenses.

Chrisley and her husband, Todd Chrisley, gained fame on their present “Chrisley Is aware of Finest,” which adopted their tight-knit household and lavish life-style. A jury in 2022 discovered them responsible of conspiring to defraud group banks out of greater than $30 million in fraudulent loans. The Chrisleys have been additionally discovered responsible of tax evasion by hiding their earnings.

The couple’s accountant, Peter Tarantino, stood trial with them and was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the USA and willfully submitting false tax returns.

A 3-judge panel of the eleventh U.S. Circuit Court docket of Appeals in June upheld the convictions of the Chrisleys and Tarantino however discovered a authorized error in how the trial choose had calculated Julie Chrisley’s sentence by holding her accountable for the whole financial institution fraud scheme. So the appellate panel despatched her case again to the decrease court docket for re-sentencing.

Federal prosecutors argued in a court docket submitting this month that the choose ought to give Julie Chrisley the identical seven-year sentence she initially imposed. Chrisley’s legal professionals requested for a complete sentence of not more than 5 years, writing that her two youngest kids have been battling “day-to-day functioning” in her absence.

Earlier than the Chrisleys grew to become actuality tv stars, they and a former enterprise associate submitted false paperwork to banks within the Atlanta space to acquire fraudulent loans, prosecutors stated throughout the trial. They accused the couple of spending lavishly on luxurious vehicles, designer garments, actual property and journey, and utilizing new fraudulent loans to repay outdated ones. Todd Chrisley then filed for chapter, in keeping with prosecutors, strolling away from greater than $20 million in unpaid loans.

Julie Chrisley was sentenced to serve seven years in federal jail and Todd Chrisley obtained 12 years behind bars. The couple was additionally ordered to pay $17.8 million in restitution.

On enchantment, the Chrisleys challenged features of their convictions and sentences, and Tarantino sought to have his conviction thrown out and have a brand new trial.

The appellate judges discovered just one error with the case. They dominated the trial choose at sentencing held Julie Chrisley answerable for the whole financial institution fraud scheme beginning in 2006. The panel dominated neither prosecutors nor the trial choose cited “any particular proof displaying she was concerned in 2006.”

The panel discovered adequate proof tying her to fraud from a number of years beginning in 2007.

Todd Chrisley, 56, is at a minimal safety federal jail camp in Pensacola, Florida, with a launch date in September 2032, in keeping with the federal Bureau of Prisons web site. Julie Chrisley, 51, had been held at a facility in Lexington, Kentucky.

Tarantino, 62, is in a midway home within the Atlanta space and is ready for launch in March, the jail company’s web site says.