Atlanta

‘It is so beyond inhumane.’ Savannah Chrisley says mom Julie got sick from heat in prison

ATLANTA — Savannah Chrisley is speaking out once again about the conditions she says her parents are living in while in prison.

Last month, Julie Chrisley had her sentence vacated by a federal appeals court and the case was sent back to a lower court to be resentenced. The appeals court also upheld Todd Chrisley’s sentence.

During the latest episode of her podcast, Savannah said she visited her mother recently and that Julie had gotten physically ill from the heat inside prison.

“In the visitation room, thank goodness, there’s air conditioning. But outside the visitation room, there is zero air conditioning. And the heat index was 105, 110 and that’s what Mom’s living in, is in conditions like that with absolutely no air,” Savannah said. “And it can be 100 degrees inside the building. She literally said that she got physically sick because she got so hot. So, you have these women who are suffering from heat exhaustion and they’re passing out. But yet, there’s service dogs that have air conditioning. None of it makes sense to me.”

Todd and Julie Chrisley, mostly known for their reality TV series “Chrisley Knows Best,” and Peter Tarantino, their accountant, were found guilty in 2022 of conspiring to defraud banks and the IRS out of millions of dollars and are serving a combined 15 years in prison. The Chrisleys were originally sentenced to a combined 19 years in prison, but the sentences were reduced in September 2023.

Todd is serving 12 years in prison. Julie was sentenced to seven before it was vacated. Their accountant also received three years.

“It is so beyond inhumane that you cannot make it up. And it’s tough,” Savannah continued about the alleged prison conditions. “Mom is super excited for visitation because she got to be in an air-conditioned room. It makes me realize how much we take for granted. How we just walk in a place and it’s air-conditioned, and that’s the normal. Unfortunately for these men and women, it’s just not, and it’s really tough to hear those struggles.”

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As for Todd, Savannah said that they are working on their next steps to try and get him out of prison.

“The next process for Dad is going through and filing the motion for the 2255, which is ineffective assistance of counsel, and then taking that step by step,” she said. “So that’s pretty much where we’re at with that.”

“A §2255 motion is a ‘collateral’ or indirect challenge to the judgment or sentence against you attacking the conviction or sentence as unconstitutional or contrary to federal law,” spolinlaw.com said.

Channel 2 Action News first started investigating the Chrisleys in 2017, when we learned that Todd Chrisley had likely evaded paying Georgia state income taxes for several years.

Court documents obtained by Channel 2 Action News showed that by 2018, the Chrisleys owed the state nearly $800,000 in liens.

The couple eventually went to trial and a federal jury found them guilty of bank fraud and tax evasion.

Savannah said she hoped to have her mother back home by Thanksgiving. So far, Julie’s resentencing hearing has not been scheduled.

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