The Chrisley family scored a legal win on Friday after the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit overturned Julie Chrisley’s prison sentence, according to FOX5 News in Atlanta. Because only Julie’s six-year sentence— and not her conviction— was overturned, the Appeals Court judge has ordered the Chrisley Knows Best star to be resentenced in District Court.
As The Ashley previously told you, Julie and her husband Todd Chrisley are currently serving prison time for tax evasion and fraud crimes– six years for Julie and 10 years for Todd, following the couple’s sentences being reduced in September. Todd and Julie are in the process of appealing their criminal convictions and had their cases heard in oral arguments on April 19 in a Georgia courtroom.
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the convictions of Todd and Julie, as well as their accountant Peter Tarantino, but vacated Julie’s sentence. In court docs filed Friday, the court explained that it could not independently find evidence to hold Julie accountable for losses incurred before 2007. Sufficient evidence was found, however, that tied Julie to the fraud that was committed for several years, starting in 2007.
The Appeals Court stated that, because Julie was sentenced for some crimes that she can no longer be tied to, she will need to be resentenced to reflect that.
“We must vacate Julie’s sentence so the district court can address the narrow issue of what the proper loss amount attributable to Julie is” so that her sentence can be re-calculated, the appeals panel wrote.
Todd’s appeal was rejected so, as of press time, his sentence remains unchanged.
An attorney for both Chrisleys issued a statement after the ruling, stating that he was happy for Julie but sad for Todd.
“We’re pleased that the Court agreed that Julie’s sentence was improper, but we’re obviously disappointed that it rejected Todd’s appeal,” Alex Little said. “With this step behind us, we can now challenge the couple’s convictions based on the illegal search that started the case. The family appreciates the continued support they’ve received throughout this process. And they’re hopeful for more good news in the future.”
Upon receiving the news, Todd and Julie’s daughter Savannah Chrisley took to social media to discuss the appellate court’s ruling, which she called “a little win.”
“We got the opinion back on the appeal, [it] didn’t exactly go as we hoped, but we do have a little win,” she said, before reading the opinion issued by the court. “’After careful consideration, and with the benefit of oral argument, we affirm the District Court on all issues except for the loss amount attributed to Julie. The District Court did not identify the evidence it relied on to hold Julie accountable for losses incurred before 2007, and we cannot independently find it in the record.
“‘So we vacate Julie’s sentence and remand solely for the District Court to make the factual findings and calculations necessary to determine loss, restitution, and forfeiture as to Julie, and to resentence her accordingly.’”
Savannah went on to explain that “the Appeals Court could not find any evidence that attributed this $17 million loss amount to my mother.”
“For that, I am grateful and I hope and pray the judge can send her home,” she added. “Right now, if we won nothing on appeal, she would be home this time in 2026. So, I am a firm believer that she will be coming home sooner rather than later … .”
(As The Ashley previously reported, Savannah was made the primary guardian of her younger siblings Grayson and Chloe prior to Todd and Julie reporting to prison.)
FOX5 News reports that the appellate court has remanded Julie’s case back to the district court for resentencing, which will require a “more precise determination” of Julie’s involvement, as well as the corresponding financial losses.
A date for Julie’s resentencing has not been announced, meanwhile, Todd continues to serve his prison sentence at FPC Pensacola, a minimum-security facility in Florida.
RELATED STORY: Savannah Chrisley Says Parents’ Recent Appeal Hearing Left Younger Brother Grayson Feeling “Traumatized”
(Photos: USA Network; Instagram)
2 Responses
And how much of the money they now reaffirmed they defrauded did they use for this appeal???
Yeah… so they did it and now have spent even more money getting Julie out of a technically, she’ll just get like probation or a year.
Great. This will prevent others from doing this. /s
So she still did it, just not for as long as they think she did it.
I guess.
Really done forgot all about these 2.