It’s been less than a month since Todd and Julie Chrisley began serving their federal prison sentences, and while the Chrisley Knows Best couple has been known to live a rather lavish lifestyle, the two are allegedly adjusting well to life behind bars.
On this week’s episode of Savannah Chrisley‘s Unlocked podcast, the 25-year-old discussed how prison life is going for Todd and Julie, who are serving respective 12- and seven-year sentences after being found guilty of tax evasion and bank fraud crimes.
Though her parents have only been living the prison life for a couple of weeks, Savannah said her mom and dad “are okay,” E! News reports. In fact, Savannah said Julie has been keeping herself busy by working, going to church, making prison pals and “playing some spades.”
“She’s honestly doing really well,” Savannah said of her mom, who is serving her time at a facility in Kentucky. “It sounds crazy for me to say, ‘All right, they’re doing really well,’ but they are.”
As for Todd, who is serving his sentence at a facility in Florida, “he’s doing pretty good,” and has been working at the facility’s chapel. Savannah called her dad’s new gig “absolutely amazing,” adding that Todd is still able to communicate with the family quite often.
“We talk to him, we email him,” she said. “We get to see him, so for that, I am forever grateful, because there are so many people that don’t get to see their loved ones that are in different facilities, that are maybe in maximum-security prisons that don’t get visitors, that have to say hello through a piece of glass.”
While Todd and Julie seem to be adjusting to their new accommodations fairly well, the same cannot be said for some of their children– particularly 16-year-old Grayson and 10-year-old Chloe. (Chloe is the biological daughter of Todd’s eldest son Kyle Chrisley, though she was adopted by Todd and Julie in 2016.)
As The Ashley previously told you, Savannah has stepped in to take care of her younger siblings in their parents’ absence, though helping the kids adjust to what’s going on in the family has proved to be a challenge for her, People reports.
“It’s been hard,” Savannah said. “It’s been hard to understand, process and also help two kids process what’s going on in our life.”
“[It’s a] very, very difficult [thing to do,]” she added. “I’m trying to stand strong and not break and be strong for them. So they feel comfortable enough to break down, and it’s tough.”
Savannah revealed Grayson recently “had a breakdown” over the situation his parents are in, while Chloe is also “trying to process them being gone and missing her mom.”
“We were driving down the road the other day and Chloe had so much anger towards the situation and she just said, ‘Why? They’re not bad people, they don’t belong there,'” Savannah recalled. “She looked at me with tears just rolling down her face and said, ‘Guess what? I pray all the time. I pray for mom and dad to get home, I pray all day and guess what Sassy? Nothing happens– it doesn’t work.’ And when a 10-year-old says that to you, how do you respond?”
Though Savannah said her parents’ absence “feels like a slow death,” Todd and Julie’s legal issues have inspired her to “bring awareness to how broken our prison system is, how we have a system that does not encourage rehabilitation.”
” … It does not encourage growth,” she continued. “It doesn’t encourage forgiveness, it just encourages, really, beating someone down further than they are, and that’s really, really sad.”
The Chrisleys are currently in the process of appealing their convictions/sentences.
(Photos: Instagram; USA Network)
9 Responses
You can’t rehabilitate criminals who don’t admit their guilt. Shut up, Savannah, your parents stole a shit ton of money from the government, flaunted it, played victim, and got what they deserved.
I mean, Todd and Julie have numerous fraud charges against them! That went to trial, no plea deal was accepted nor responsibility taken for their actions. I’d say they are bad people, corrupt people are. Just because they aren’t violent and hide behind religion doesn’t make them good people. I feel bad for Grayson and Chloe, but that is Todd and Julie’s fault!
This is why those of us with minor children make it our priority to NEVER BREAK THE LAW!! I don’t even break the speed limit!! I need to be here in person to parent my kids until the youngest is of age and successfully launched! (She’s 14, so probably 10 more years!!??). I can’t believe Ma and Pa Chrisley thought they would never get caught!! How could they take a chance like that when Chloe, who has already been through too much in her life, is SO YOUNG?? Praying for all the kids!
Don’t blame God! Blame the greed they had that allowed them to commit fraud with no guilt. Now that they are caught and punished, the prison system is broke. We know it is but that’s mostly for poor people who can’t pay high dollar attorneys. Sounds like no accountability!
While yes it is a difficult situation, it would be far less so for the actual minors if people were honest with them. Stop lying to them and telling them their parents are “good people”, because they aren’t. Don’t tell the kids that the parents didn’t do what they were convicted of. Own up to the shit that was done, how long it was done, how it affected other people (besides themselves) and also how the family profited from their crimes.
They committed CRIMES worthy of prison time. They didn’t jaywalk in front of a cop. They didn’t commit victimless crimes, either, even if people only think they defrauded the government.
Grayson is definitely old enough to understand the severity of what they did. Chloe isn’t an idiot and can be talked to as well on a level that she understands, Quit sweeping shit under the rug and pretending everything is fine.
She is aware she can both love her parents and think they are guilty at the same time, right? I had a family member do time. I love and adore him. But guess what? I still know he was guilty and deserved the time. Had absolutely nothing to do with my love for him. He needed to take his lumps even though I desperately missed him. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. I’ll give her parents this: She BELIEVES they are innocent. That’s some first class conditioning and brainwashing.
Those two really have convinced those kids that they’re totally innocent. They totally believe that their parents have been wrongly convicted.
The best way fix problems with the prison system is not break the law so you don’t have to live in one for a decade.
It’s always someone else with this family, it was their daughter, it was their son, it was the tax regulations? it was the law enforcement, it was the judge and now they are the “victim” of a broken prison system.
We call those “consequences of your actions”