Todd and Julie Chrisley receive $1M settlement from Georgia over tax evasion investigation
Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley arrive at the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards held at T-Mobile Arena on April 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Michael Tran/FilmMagic)
Reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley have won a legal battle against the state of Georgia over the handling of a tax evasion case against them.
On Tuesday, the couple announced that they are receiving a settlement of $1 million from Georgia over a lawsuit against the former director of the Department of Revenue's special investigations unit, People reports.
The Chrisleys sued Joshua Waites in 2019 with claims that they had been unfairly targeted in their tax evasion charge.
The lawsuit claimed that Waites focused his efforts on the family and targeted Todd Chrisley's estranged daughter Lindise, going so far as to allegedly share the couple's confidential tax information with them.
"Ultimately, Waites’s efforts failed, but in the process, the Chrisleys were forced to incur substantial personal and financial hardship," the reality stars' former attorney Michael J. Bowers wrote in the lawsuit.
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The Chrisleys' new attorney told People that the settlement was "an encouraging sign" in their federal case.
While Todd and Julie Chrisley settled their case with the Georgia Department of Revenue for nearly $150,000, they were found guilty in 2022 of tax evasion and defrauding community banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans in federal court.
Prosecutors said the couple neglected their responsibility to repay the loans when Todd Chrisley declared bankruptcy. While in bankruptcy, they started their reality show and "flaunted their wealth and lifestyle to the American public," prosecutors wrote, and then hid the millions they made from the show from the IRS. Julie Chrisley was also convicted of wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
The Chrisleys gained fame with their show "Chrisley Knows Best," which followed their tight-knit family on the USA Network. The couple spent millions on designer-brand clothes, luxury cars and real estate, including two mansions in Nashville, Tennessee, reportedly worth about $9 million.
An Atlanta U.S. District Court judge sentenced Todd Chrisley to 12 years in prison, and Julie Chrisley to seven years. Each is to serve three years of supervised release afterward.
In addition to prison time, the couple has been ordered to immediately pay more than $17 million in restitution to the banks they swindled millions from, according to judgment documents.
Peter Tarantino, an accountant hired by the couple, was found guilty of defrauding the United States and willfully filing false tax returns. He will serve three years in prison.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.