ATLANTA — The fight to get Julie Chrisley out of prison continues as her attorney filed a reply in Federal Appeals Court on Friday, demanding that her sentence be vacated once again and saying she should be resentenced in front of a new judge “to ensure the reality and appearance of justice.”
In June, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated Chrisley’s sentence saying her original sentence of seven years in prison was based on lack of evidence.
The judge then ordered her to be resentenced by the lower court in September. The District Court judge resentenced her to the same prison time.
Her attorney claims in Friday’s filing that Chrisley’s sentence in September was in retaliation for her daughter, Savannah Chrisley, being so outspoken about her mother’s treatment throughout her incarceration.
“The court refused any downward variance while expressing displeasure with Savannah’s public statements. This sequence - a successful appeal, followed by judicial displeasure over public criticism, culminating in an increased sentence without objective justification - presents compelling evidence of vindictiveness requiring reassignment,” the document said.
Last month, federal prosecutors filed a brief saying the court added two years to Julie Chrisley’s supervised release when she was resentenced in September and admitted the judge in the case got it wrong.
“The five-year term of supervised release on counts 7 and 12 is plain error, because it exceeds the maximum term authorized by statute,” prosecutors wrote. “In such situations, this Court vacates the district court’s judgment only with respect to the supervised release term and remands with instructions to correct that issue.”
Counts 7 and 12 were for wire fraud and obstruction of justice, respectively.
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Prosecutors said they too missed the change, and neither side objected to the sentence during September’s hearing.
But now prosecutors are asking the appeals court to have the case sent back to district court to resentence Julie Chrisley to the same terms, but this time with 5 years supervised release.
The Chrisleys were first indicted in August 2019. Prosecutors said the couple submitted fake documents to banks when applying for loans.
Julie Chrisley sent a fake credit report and bank statements showing far more money than they had in their accounts to a California property owner in July 2014 while trying to rent a home.
A few months after they began using the home, in October 2014, they refused to pay rent, causing the owner to have to threaten them with eviction.
The money the Chrisleys received from their reality television show, “Chrisley Knows Best,” went to a company they controlled called 7C’s Productions, but they didn’t declare it as income on federal tax returns, prosecutors said.
The couple failed to file or pay their federal income taxes on time for multiple years.
The family had moved to Tennessee by the time the indictment was filed, but the criminal charges stemmed from when they lived in Atlanta’s northern suburbs.
Channel 2 Action News first started investigating the Chrisleys in 2017, when we learned that Todd Chrisley had likely evaded paying Georgia state income taxes for several years.
Court documents obtained by Channel 2 Action News showed that by 2018, the Chrisleys owed the state nearly $800,000 in liens.
The couple eventually went to trial and a federal jury found them guilty of bank fraud and tax evasion.
Daughter Savannah Chrisley has flat out said that the family is asking President Donald Trump to pardon Todd and Julie Chrisley.
Last month, Savannah attended a lunch at the White House and spoke in front of CPAC about her parents’ incarceration.
“I refuse to stop speaking out. The fight for justice is far from over,” she said. “This week reminded me why I do this. The road is long, the fight is hard, but justice is worth it.”
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