‘A model inmate:’ Ex-reality TV star Julie Chrisley seeks reduced prison sentence

ATLANTA — Former reality television star Julie Chrisley is asking an Atlanta judge to shave at least two years off her prison sentence on bank fraud and tax evasion charges, publicly revealing for the first time details about her incarceration.

Chrisley, 51, is due to be resentenced Wednesday in Atlanta’s federal trial court. Her seven-year prison sentence, which began in January 2023, was vacated in June by the Atlanta-based federal appeals court that questioned the extent of her involvement in a $36 million bank fraud scheme.

Chrisley has asked the trial court to impose a new sentence of no more than five years. Her attorneys said in a Sept. 20 filing that she had been “a model inmate” during her time in a Kentucky prison, where she has received a license to operate a forklift and more than 40 certificates for completing various programs.

“Since the first day of her incarceration, Ms. Chrisley has worked to better herself as an inmate and citizen and is poised to seamlessly re-enter society upon her release,” her attorneys, Alex Little and Zachary Lawson, said. “She has worked continuously during her time as an inmate, including in the commissary, food service and laundry. Ms. Chrisley currently works in two different positions in the facility. She also has taught classes to other inmates.”

The impact that Chrisley’s incarceration has had on her health and the well-being of her children and parents has also been revealed in her bid for a reduced sentence.

“In the 20 months Mrs. Chrisley has been incarcerated, she has aged, her health has further deteriorated, her minor children suffer from the absence of their mother, and her parents and mother-in-law are sicker,” her attorneys told the court.

Savannah Chrisley, 27, said she has been taking care of her youngest siblings, Grayson, 18, and Chloe, 11. She said in a letter to U.S. District Judge Eleanor L. Ross that the past two years have been “unimaginably difficult.”

“I beg you, Your Honor — please, send my mama home,” Savannah Chrisley wrote. “I love Grayson and Chloe with all my heart, but no matter how much I provide for them, I know I can never truly give them what their mother can. I long for the day I can embrace my mother as a free woman again.”

Whatever new sentence is imposed, Julie Chrisley is expected to receive credit for the time she’s already served. Todd Chrisley is serving a 12-year prison sentence that also began in January 2023.

Julie Chrisley’s attorneys said her 70-year-old mother has had to come out of retirement in order to care for Julie Chrisley’s 74-year-old father, who underwent major cardiac surgery.

In a letter to the court, Julie Chrisley’s parents, Harvey and Pam Hughes, said she was the head of the family and gave everyone strength, support, purpose, direction and love.

“We all have felt the impact of her absence,” they wrote. “We all need her back home especially her mom and dad. She is the only child we have living.”

Grayson Chrisley said in a letter to the court that he needs his mother, who is his best friend, more than ever. He said she has missed out on his acceptance into college and first college visit, among other things.

“The last two years of my life have been the hardest years of my life,” he said. “My sister, Savannah, has stepped up and taken care of my sister and I, but as I’m sure you can understand it is not the same as having your mama.”

Julie Chrisley’s attorneys said her youngest children are struggling to function in her absence. Savannah Chrisley said she’s fighting to ensure her youngest siblings don’t become “another statistic–children of incarcerated parents who lose their way.”

“They are brilliant, beautiful souls with the potential to change the world, and I don’t want this world to break them,” she said. “But I can’t do it alone. I need my mother. We need her. I feel the strain every day as I juggle raising them, fighting for justice and freedom for my parents, and trying to keep a roof over our heads. As a single woman running a one-income household, it often feels like no matter how hard I work, it’s never quite enough.”

Savannah Chrisley also detailed the “heartbreaking” treatment of her mother in prison, saying the conditions are “inhumane, especially for women.” She said Julie Chrisley endured a 13-hour trip to Atlanta in order to attend the resentencing hearing, during which she faced having to “walk through a plane filled with men heckling her just to use the restroom at the back.”

“She chose to not eat or drink for the entire journey, just to preserve what little dignity she had left,” Savannah Chrisley said. “Since then, she has been transferred from facility to facility, allowed outside for only an hour a day. The isolation and deprivation are taking their toll on her mentally and physically.”

Julie Chrisley previously asked to participate in the resentencing hearing remotely from prison, but that request was denied. She also asked permission to wear her own clothes during the hearing, but was told she’d have to wear a prison uniform like other defendants in her situation.

Her attorneys said the crimes she was convicted of are “an aberration in her otherwise law-abiding life.” They said she has no disciplinary history as an inmate, and has made monthly $65 payments toward the $17.2 million restitution imposed on her.

“The widespread publicity of these convictions guarantee that the record will follow Mrs. Chrisley for the rest of her life,” her attorneys said. “And the case itself is more than enough of a reminder of the penalties for breaking the law. Mrs. Chrisley has been financially ruined by the conviction. Her family has been torn apart. And her reputation has been irreparably harmed.”