Trump to pardon reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley
President Donald Trump will pardon reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, according to a video posted by Trump's communications adviser Margo Martin on X. The couple was sentenced to prison for tax evasion and bank fraud.
According to the video, Trump called Savannah Chrisley, the couple's 27-year-old daughter, to share the news that her parents were getting pardoned and would be released from prison soon.
Savannah Chrisley appealed to the Trump administration for pardons for her parents and spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention.
The couple, who became famous for their show "Chrisley Knows Best," were sentenced in November 2022 to a combined 19 years in prison on charges including fraud and tax evasion. Todd Chrisley was sentenced to 12 years in prison and 16 months of probation while Julie Chrisley was ordered to serve seven years in prison and 16 months of probation.
The couple was also ordered to pay $17.8 million in restitution.
Asked by ABC News if the White House could provide any background information regarding the pardons, principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields did not provide any details behind the pardons and echoed Trump's comments in the video that the couple were treated unfairly.
“The President is always pleased to give well-deserving Americans a second chance, especially those who have been unfairly targeted and overly prosecuted by an unjust justice system," Fields said in a statement to ABC News. "President Trump called Savannah and her brother from the Oval Office to personally inform them that he would be pardoning their parents, Todd and Julie Chrisley, whose sentences were far too harsh."
"Chrisley Knows Best" premiered in 2014 and followed the lavish lifestyle of wealthy real estate developer Todd Chrisley and his family.
The charges against the Chrisleys stem from activity that occurred at least as early as 2007, when the couple allegedly provided false information to banks and fabricated bank statements when applying for and receiving million of dollars in loans, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. In 2014, two years after the alleged bank fraud scheme ended, the couple is accused of fabricating bank statements and a credit report that had "been physically cut and taped or glued together when applying for and obtaining a lease for a home in California."
In their sentencing memo, prosecutors said the Chrisleys had engaged in a "fifteen-year fraud spree."
"After they defrauded community banks out of tens of millions of dollars, they hid millions of dollars from the IRS, all while going on television to boast about how much they spend on designer clothes," the memo read. "And when they learned that they were under investigation for those crimes, they involved their own family members and friends to obstruct justice."
In a phone interview with ABC News on Tuesday, Savannah Chrisley told ABC News the call from Trump came 'totally out of the blue."
"I kind of had gotten to a place where I had lost hope, and just felt like nothing was going in my favor," she said. "And then I got the call."
Savannah Chrisley said she is planning to pick her parents up as early as Tuesday night or "first thing" on Wednesday.
She also recounted informing her mother by phone of the pardon.
"Just sobbing, hysterically," Savannah Chrisley said of her mother's reaction to hearing the news.
Chrisley said she was "eternally grateful to [Trump's "pardon czar"] Alice Johnson and the president and his entire team."
"It was just a shock, and the president was so kind and loving. He's the reason my family is coming back together," Chrisley said. "I have always stood by him and his administration, and I will continue to stand by them and fight for them."
-ABC News' Olivia Rubin contributed to this report.
