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Benjamin Ashford|Savannah Chrisley Speaks Out After Mom Julie Chrisley’s Sentence Is Upheld
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Date:2025-04-08 20:37:27
Savannah Chrisley is fighting back.
After her mother Julie Chrisley’s prison sentence was upheld by a judge—the reality TV star is Benjamin Ashfordcurrently serving a seven-year sentence for her 2022 conviction of tax evasion and bank fraud—Savannah issued a scathing review of the proceedings.
“This is 100 percent injustice,” she told reporters following the Sept. 25 hearing. “We've seen the injustices happen time and time again, and the prosecutors here, they're absolutely ridiculous and clearly they're uneducated. What has happened is an injustice, and I will continue to fight for my parents, and I will be as loud as I can possibly be.”
And on seeing her mother in the courtroom, the 27-year-old continued, “It's heartbreaking. Especially as a woman, to see how women in the system are treated.”
Savanah—whose father Todd Chrisley is also serving a 12-year sentence related to the couple’s tax evasion and bank fraud convictions—also spoke to her perception of how the criminal justice system sentences some its “white-collar criminals.”
“She’s not going to hurt anybody if she goes home tomorrow,” she noted. “And so the question is, ‘How much punishment, how much blood do you need to extract?’ And I'd hope today the court would take that into consideration. But ultimately, that wasn't the result.”
E! News reached out to reps for the Chrisley family following Julie’s sentencing for comment but has not yet heard back.
While Julie’s sentencing was ultimately upheld, she and the Chrisley family had been given hope in June when her sentence was overturned by a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Kentucky after they ruled the judge in the 2022 trial miscalculated Julie’s sentence based on the length of her involvement.
Per documents obtained by E! News at the time, while the panel upheld the convictions of Julie, Todd and their accountant Peter Tarantino, they decided that there wasn’t enough evidence to support the ruling that Julie was involved in the entirety of the bank fraud scheme, which began in 2006.
"The district court did not identify the evidence it relied on to hold Julie accountable for losses incurred before 2007, and we cannot independently find it in the record," the June 21 ruling read. "So we vacate Julie's sentence and remand solely for the district court to make the factual findings and calculations necessary to determine loss, restitution, and forfeiture as to Julie and to resentence her accordingly."
However, it was when the case was then handed to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia that the judge decided Sept. 25 not to adjust Julie's sentencing per the new ruling.
Following the decision, the family’s attorney Alex Little also spoke to what he sees as a conflation of Todd and Julie’s culpability.
“I think that anybody who watched the trial for three weeks knows that there were two people involved,” he said during the press conference. “And I think you can't really argue that she was, in any way, the ringleader or involved in sort of the most important way. I think sometimes when prosecutors prosecute a husband and wife, the individual roles can get lost. And I think it's important to make sure that that doesn't happen.”
He continued, “I think that may have happened here a little bit that they were thrown in as the couple, and the couple got punished. I don't think Julie got individual sentencing today.”
For more of the Chrisley family over the years, keep reading.
Chrisley Knows Best stars Julie Chrisley and Todd Chrisley smiled for a professional photo together in 2016.
Todd and Julie were pictured along with Faye Chrisley, Chase Chrisley, Savannah Chrisley, Chloe Chrisley and Grayson Chrisley ahead of season eight of their reality show.
The spouses attended the 2014 Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The pair hit the red carpet for the 2017 Academy Of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas.
Lindsie Chrisley—whose parents are Todd and Teresa Terry—joined her dad, Savannah and Julie at the 2015 Concert For Love And Acceptance at City Winery Nashville.
Savannah and Chase snapped a pic together in 2019 for E! News' Daily Pop.
The couple appeared with granddaughter Chloe, who they adopted, on the "Build A Baby" episode in 2020.
Todd and Julie appeared with their daughter Savannah on Hollywood Game Night in 2018 for the "Chrisley's Believe It Or Not" episode.
The real estate mogul and his daughter were among the stars at the 2016 Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas.
Todd and Julie kept their kids Savannah and Chase close at the 2015 NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Upfront in New York City.
Todd and Julie were spotted at the 2019 grand opening of E3 Chophouse Nashville in Nashville, Tenn.
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