By Isabelle Wilson-
Reality television couple Todd Chrisley and his wife Julie Chrisley have both been sentenced to prison for tax fraud totalling £30m against banks.
Peter Tarantino, their accountant, was sentenced to 36 months in prison for his role in the scheme.
The reality-TV couple Todd and Julie Chrisley on Monday were sentenced in Atlanta federal court on fraud convictions, with Todd Chrisley receiving 12 years and his wife, Julie Chrisley, receiving a sentence of seven years.Todd and Julie will also serve 16 months of probation each upon their release.
The sentence follows a conviction in June of defrauding banks out of more than $30 million by providing fake financial statements to present a false impression as if they were wealthier than they were. Prosecutors proved that the couple used the loans to buy expensive cars, take extravagant trips, and live a lifestyle they couldn’t afford, while also hiding money from the IRS to avoid paying taxes.
Peter Tarantino, the couple’s accountant, was also sentenced on Monday to 36 months in prison for his role in committing fraud on his clients’ behalf.
During the highly emotionally charged sentencing hearing on Monday, Assistant US Attorney Annalise Peters showed footage of the Chrisleys bragging about spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on clothes, from their 30,000-square-foot home, while avoiding taxes and in the middle of bankruptcy.
“Of course there is nothing bad about being rich. There is nothing wrong about making lots of money,” Peters said. “It’s the American dream.”
But also essential to being American, she said, is paying taxes.
Prosecutors said the couple used the money to fund their lifestyle, even before they had become reality stars. Todd and Julia also used a production company to hide income from the IRS, lawyers argued.
The Chrisleys addressed the court asking for leniency on Monday. Todd Chrisley, choking up, said in his statement that his wife was the caregiver for their children Grayson and Chloe.
“My wife, Julie, should not be punished” to the same scale, he said.
His wife, Julie Chrisley, sobbed as she told the court she was most concerned for her children.
“To hear your 10-year-old say she doesn’t want to live if their mom goes away, no child should feel that way,” she said of Chloe, her adopted daughter, as the courtroom filled with audible emotion.
US District Judge Eleanor Ross allowed both Chrisleys to surrender themselves to custody. Ross said that in most of the cases before her there were children left behind upon their parents’ sentencing.
“It is heartbreaking, but it has to be burdened by the defendants,” Ross said.
“I’ve never heard any acceptance of any crime,” she added. “I’ve never really heard any admission to any wrongdoing or any remorse,” Ross told the Chrisleys.
“I have no reason to doubt that both Chrisleys have good hearts,” she said, adding that she “cannot ignore the greed and flamboyance in this case.”
Both Todd and Julie Chrisley were sentenced below what the federal sentencing guidelines laid out, due to their age, health, and the fact that they care for Todd’s mother, Faye Chrisley, who has bladder cancer, and other relatives.
Ross recommended that Julie Chrisley be allowed to serve her sentence at FCI Tallahassee and Todd Chrisley be allowed to serve at FCI Pensacola, as they asked.
Judge Ross said she felt for the parents, but that being separated from one’s children was common in prison-sentencing and not grounds for leniency.
‘I have no reason to doubt that both Chrisleys have good hearts. But, I cannot ignore the greed and flamboyance in this case.’
The sensational trial of the couple had earlier in the year led to bombshell revelations.
Chrisley’s former employee-turned-lover Mark Braddock revealed that he had a year-long gay affair with the reality star in the early 2000s – while they were both married to their respective wives.
Braddock also admitted helping the couple commit the fraud
His testimony also saw him confessing not only to his role in the Chrisleys’ years-long fraud, but to his infidelity, which he is said to have kept hidden from his wife for years before revealing it all to the world on the stand. Braddock was granted immunity in return for testifying.
They were both been charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Julie was also charged with wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
Throughout their legal troubles, the Chrisleys maintained they had done nothing wrong.
They claimed that someone else had been in charge of their finances, and therefore responsible for any and all crimes committed.
They have been married 26 years and share five children in addition to Grayson and Chloe: Lindsie, 32; Kyle, 30; Chase, 25; Savannah, 24.
Prosecutors said that while the Chrisleys were earning millions from their show and other entertainment ventures, they evaded paying Todd’s 2009 delinquent taxes and failed to timely file tax returns from 2013 to 2016.
“The Chrisleys have built an empire based on the lie that their wealth came from dedication and hard work,” prosecutors wrote. “The jury’s unanimous verdict sets the record straight: Todd and Julie Chrisley are career swindlers who have made a living by jumping from one fraud scheme to another, lying to banks, stiffing vendors, and evading taxes at every corner.