Trump pardons reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley : NPR

President Trump pardoned Todd and Julie Chrisley, reality TV personalities who have served more than two years in prison after being convicted of funding their lavish lifestyle through tax evasion and bank fraud.

The couple rose to fame starring in the USA Network show Chrisley Knows Best, which ran from 2014 to 2023. It focused on the wealth and interpersonal dynamics of their seven-person family, living in the Atlanta and then Nashville, Tenn., areas.

Though the Chrisleys portrayed themselves as successful real estate tycoons and self-made multimillionaires, they were eventually accused of funding their lifestyle through dishonest means.

Prosecutors said they conspired to defraud community banks in the Atlanta area to take out more than $36 million in personal loans. They spent the money on luxury cars, designer clothes, real estate and travel and used new fraudulent loans to pay back old ones. They said the Chrisleys failed to pay taxes for the 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 tax years.

Todd and Julie were sentenced to 12 and 7 years in federal prison, respectively, after a jury convicted them of bank and tax fraud offenses in 2022.

“Over the course of a decade, the defendants defrauded banks out of tens of millions of dollars while evading payment of their federal income taxes,” then-U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan said at the time, adding that their “lengthy sentences reflect the magnitude of their criminal scheme.”

The Chrisleys have denied the charges and claimed they were unfairly targeted because of their conservative beliefs. Their oldest daughter, Savannah, has become an outspoken critic of the criminal justice system since her parents’ incarceration.

She spoke onstage at the Republican National Convention in July, calling her parents victims of political persecution. After Trump took office, she told People that she was “going through the proper channels” to try to get them pardoned, and had lunch at the White House in February.

Those efforts seem to have paid off. On Tuesday, White House special assistant Margo Martin tweeted a video of Trump calling Savannah from the Oval Office to inform her of her parents’ full pardons.

“It’s a terrible thing, but it’s a great thing because your parents are going to be free and clean and I hope we can do it by tomorrow,” Trump asked as his pardon czar, Alice Marie Johnson, looked on. “I don’t know them but give them my regards and wish them a good life.”

White House spokesperson Harrison Fields told NPR in an email on Wednesday that the Chrisleys’ sentences were “far too harsh.”

“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 added.

The law firm representing the Chrisleys, Litson PLLC, said in a statement that their prosecution was “tainted by multiple constitutional violations and political bias,” and praised the couple for their “exemplary” conduct in prison, noting that Julie obtained dozens of educational certificates and Todd advocated for better prison conditions.

“This pardon corrects a deep injustice and restores two devoted parents to their family and community,” said attorney Alex Little. “President Trump recognized what we’ve argued from the beginning: Todd and Julie were targeted because of their conservative values and high profile.”

Savannah, 27, profusely thanked Trump both on the call and in a series of videos on her social media accounts, in which she said her parents would be coming home shortly.

“I am eternally grateful,” she said in one. “I’m freaking out, I’m still sweating. We’re getting some clothes together for Mom and Dad, we’re getting their room put together upstairs, and I’m just speechless. … My parents get to start their lives over.”

Lawyers for the Chrisleys confirmed they left prison and headed home to Nashville on Wednesday night.

What’s happened since the Chrisleys’ incarceration 

A federal grand jury indicted Todd and Julie, now 56 and 52, on 12 counts of bank and wire fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy in 2019. Their accountant, Peter Tarantino, was also found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the United States and willfully filing false tax returns.

The Chrisleys began serving their sentences in two separate Florida prisons in January 2023 and have been appealing them ever since. (Julie was later reassigned to a prison in Kentucky.)

Their sentences were reduced for good behavior in September 2023, Todd’s by two years and Julie’s by 14 months. An appeals court upheld their convictions in 2024, but, citing a calculation error, sent Julie’s case back to a lower court — which ultimately upheld her original sentence.

Savannah, who hosts a podcast called “Unlocked with Savannah Chrisley,” has been outspoken about the hardships associated with her parents’ incarceration, from having to take on guardianship of her younger brother and niece to the harsh conditions in prison.

“The heat index was 105-110 degrees, and there’s no air conditioning outside the visitation room,” she said in 2024 about the Kentucky facility where Julie was living. “Mom said she got physically sick from the heat. It’s beyond inhumane.”

Chrisley Knows Best and a spinoff, Growing Up Chrisley, were both canceled in the wake of the couples’ convictions. But just days before their pardon, Lifetime announced it will put the famous family back on screen later this year, in a docuseries currently being called The Untitled Chrisleys Project. The network said the show will follow the family members as they navigate life with their parents in prison.

“In the new series, the Chrisleys don’t know best anymore, but they’re doing their best to be there for each other,” the press release reads. “The family faces the challenge of carrying on the Chrisley name and legacy on their own with only phone calls and brief visits with their incarcerated parents.”

Trump continues his streak of high-profile pardons

Trump has pardoned a number of high-profile supporters in the early months of his second term, starting with hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters.

In February, he pardoned disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was convicted of corruption-related crimes in 2011. Trump commuted Blagojevich’s 14-year sentence during his first term. Blagojevich attended the 2024 Republican National Convention in support of Trump, whom he called “the most demonized political figure in American history — and I know something about being demonized.”

In March, Trump pardoned former Tennessee state Sen. Brian Kelsey, who was two weeks into a 21-month prison sentence for an illegal campaign finance scheme (which he pleaded guilty to in 2022 but later tried unsuccessfully to rescind).

“May God bless America, despite the prosecutorial sins it committed against me, President Trump, and others the past four years,” Kelsey said after receiving the full pardon.

In April, Trump pardoned Michele Fiore, a former Las Vegas city councilwoman and former Republican state lawmaker who was awaiting sentencing on federal wire fraud charges. Fiore, a loyal Trump supporter, was accused of using money meant to honor a slain police officer for her personal expenses, including cosmetic surgery, rent and her daughter’s wedding.

And just this week, on Monday, Trump announced a pardon for Scott Jenkins, a former Virginia sheriff who was found guilty of accepting over $75,000 in bribes in exchange for appointing multiple businessmen as auxiliary deputy sheriffs in his Culpeper County department. He was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison in March and was reportedly due to report to prison on Tuesday.