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Todd Chrisley’s Estranged Son Kyle Speaks Out After Appeal Court Upholds Dad’s 12-Year Prison Sentence
Todd Chrisley’s estranged son, Kyle Chrisley, tells In Touch he believes his father still had a chance at having his prison sentence overturned — despite his setback in court last week.
Kyle, who claims he hasn’t spoken to his famous father in over a year, tells us, “I’m happy for Julie but you know it’s really unfortunate that the court found the previous ruling on everything else valid.”
He added, “I’m hoping the next step for my dad is the Supreme Court of Appeals.”
As part of their criminal case, accusing the couple of bank fraud and federal tax evasion, Todd, 55, was ordered to serve 12 years in prison. Julie was sentenced to a 7-year prison sentence.
On top of the prison time, Todd and Julie, 51, were ordered to pay $17.2 million in restitution.
A jury found them guilty of submitting fake documents to obtain more than $30 million in fraudulent loans. The coupe’s accountant, Peter Tarantino, was also sentenced to prison time Todd is serving his time at a minimum-security prison in Florida while Julie checked into a facility in Lexington, Kentucky.
The couple – and their accountant — quickly filed an appeal of the sentence. Todd and Julie accused the judge of allowing certain evidence to be presented at trial that should not have been shown to the jury. Todd demanded he be granted a new trial.
Julie said the prosecutors failed to present enough evidence to back up their accusations.
Last week, The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the convictions for Todd and Julie. The higher court did vacate Julie’s sentence to allow her to be resentenced. The court found that while the alleged scheme started in 2006, there was no evidence Julie had any role until 2007.
The court said Julie should be resentenced with the consideration that she didn’t participate in the scheme the entire time with 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, an attorney for Todd and Julie, said after the decision was issued.
“With this step behind us, we can now challenge the couple’s convictions based on the illegal search that started the case,” he said. “The family appreciates the continued support they’ve received throughout this process. And they’re hopeful for more good news in the future.”
Todd and Julie’s daughter, Savannah Chrisley, said, “Didn’t necessarily go as we hoped. But we do have a little win.”
“What [the ruling] means is that the appeals court could not find any evidence that attributed this $17 million loss amount to my mother. And for that, I am grateful and I hope and pray that the judge can send her home,” she said in a video posted on Instagram. Savannah told her followers she had a couple “other ideas up” her sleeve when it came to her dad’s case.”
As In Touch previously reported, Kyle said he was blocked from attending his father’s appeal hearing. He told us, “After he went to prison, we would email, and I think I was able to visit him twice. I’m not sure what happened for him to stop contact a year ago but after I was told not to attend the hearing, he actually removed me …. from his approved contact list. I couldn’t tell you what his reasons are.”
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