Todd and Julie Chrisley receive $1M settlement in 2019 lawsuit against tax official
Reality TV personalities Todd and Julie Chrisley will receive a $1 million settlement from the state of Georgia to resolve a 2019 lawsuit the "Chrisley Knows Best" couple filed against a former state tax official.
The family's legal team announced the settlement Tuesday. According to court documents obtained by USA TODAY, both parties – the Chrisleys and Joshua Waites, the former director of the Georgia Department of Revenue's office of special investigations – agreed to the dismissal of the lawsuit with prejudice on Jan. 4. On Sept. 13, 2023, the Chrisleys notified the court that they'd settled.
"We have been saying for months that the criminal case against the Chrisleys was highly unusual and had real problems. This settlement is an encouraging sign," the family’s lawyer, Alex Little, said in a statement Tuesday. "It's nearly unprecedented for one arm of the government to pay money to defendants when another arm is fighting to keep them in jail."
When will Todd and Julie Chrisley get out of prison?
Julie and Todd Chrisley are currently serving prison sentences for bank fraud and tax evasion. A Jan. 10 records search by USA TODAY shows Todd Chrisley, 55, has an anticipated release date of Nov. 23, 2032, from FPC Pensacola in Florida. Julie's release from FMC Lexington in Kentucky is set for Aug. 20, 2028.
An Atlanta federal appeals court will hear oral arguments in the Chrisleys' case in April, according to Little. Their daughter, Savannah Chrisley, shared the "huge news" in November, calling the update "one step closer to getting mom and dad home."
“We get to go and argue why mom and dad should be home. God is good. Thanksgiving win!" she said in a Nov. 20 video posted to Instagram.
Why Todd and Julie Chrisley sued a Georgia tax official
In October 2019, Todd and Julie Chrisley sued Waites, accusing him of being "an out-of-control public servant" who abused "the power of his office" to pursue "bogus tax evasion claims" against them. The complaint, obtained by USA TODAY, also alleged Waites targeted Todd Chrisley's "estranged daughter, Lindsie Chrisley Campbell, in an effort to induce her to reveal compromising information about her family."
Their lawsuit was filed a few months after they were indicted on charges of tax evasion, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
In June 2022, after a three-week trial, a jury found Todd and Julie Chrisley guilty of conspiring to defraud community banks in Atlanta out of more than $36 million in fraudulent loans, defraud the IRS and commit tax evasion. Julie Chrisley was also convicted of obstruction of justice.
Five months later, Todd Chrisley was sentenced to 12 years in prison, while Julie Chrisley received a seven-year sentence, though both have since been reduced by at least two years and one year, respectively.
"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," U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said in a statement after the Chrisleys' sentencing in November 2022.
Savannah Chrisleyshares 'amazing' update on parents Todd and Julie's appeal case