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Savannah Chrisley says she will 'never forget' the look on parents Todd and Julie's faces when they were found guilty of bank fraud and tax evasion: 'They were just in tears'

Mar 15, 2023, 23:55 IST
Insider
Julie Chrisley, Savannah Chrisley, and Todd ChrisleyVivian Zink/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
  • Savannah Chrisley recalled seeing her parents convicted of bank fraud and tax evasion in June 2022.
  • "It was like, guilty, guilty, guilty, like over and over and over again," she said on a podcast.
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Savannah Chrisley said she will "never forget" the look on her parents Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley's faces when they were handed their guilty verdicts.

Appearing on former "The Bachelorette" star Kaitlyn Bristowe's podcast, "Off the Vine" on Tuesday, the 25-year-old recalled sitting in the Atlanta federal court in June 2022 when her parents were convicted on charges of bank fraud and tax evasion.

"Chrisley Knows Best" stars Todd and Julie were found guilty of all charges relating to running a years-long conspiracy to defraud banks, which involved providing fake financial statements to make them appear wealthier than they were and hiding their money from the IRS.

"I will never forget when they stood up to read the verdicts and it was like, guilty, guilty, guilty, like over and over and over again," Savannah said. "And I just saw the looks on my parents' faces and … just everything, they were just in tears."

Savannah, Chase Chrisley, and other family members attended the couple's trial and sentencing — which Insider covered — in Atlanta federal court. At the sentencing, they sat behind the couple, and were not in direct eyesight of their parents' faces as the verdict was read.

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Julie and Todd Chrisley were in tears earlier in the hearing, however, when they addressed the judge, pleading for leniency.

Savannah said that the family "were not expecting" the outcome and were hopeful that the jury would eventually realize that her parents are, as she believes, "100% not guilty."

Savannah, who has begun the process to appeal her parents' convictions, continued: "We were like, 'There's no way.'"

Todd Chrisley, Savannah Chrisley, and Julie Chrisley on reality show "Chrisley Knows Best."Annette Brown/USA Network/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

The "Unlocked" podcast host went on to say that some of the questions the jurors asked the court to clarify during their deliberation were "appalling" to her as they demonstrated that they didn't understand the fundamentals of filing taxes or indictments.

"It's just so sad how our system works," she said, adding that she hopes the appeal will show "the errors within the court."

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Having sat "in a courtroom every day, a four-week trial," Savannah also said that she can longer watch one of her favorite shows, NBC's police procedural "Law & Order," because she has "so much PTSD that comes back."

Elsewhere in the episode, the "Growing Up Chrisley" star said that she doesn't hold any resentment toward her parents despite the fact that their legal troubles have upended her life.

Savannah previously said that she would be raising Todd and Julie's teenage son, Grayson, 16, and adopted daughter, Chloe, 10 while they are imprisoned.

A court sketch shows Todd and Julie Chrisley listen in court as their accountant was sentenced on November 21, 2022.Lauren Lacy

"I could so see how people would see that and be like, 'Wow, she's gotta be really pissed off about that,' or whatever. But I'm not, like at all," she explained. "Just because I know who my parents are. I know the things they have and have not done. I know the witch hunt. When the government wants someone, they want someone. They're going to do whatever it takes to make it look how they need it to look."

"There's no resentment whatsoever," she added.

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The reality TV couple were sentenced in November. Todd, who prosecutors called the "mastermind" of the couple's years-long tax and bank fraud scheme, was sentenced to 12 years at Federal Prison Camp Pensacola.

Julie, who prosecutors believed played a lesser role, was initially sentenced to seven years in prison at Federal Correctional Institution Marianna in Jackson County, Florida, but when the couple reported to the Bureau of Prisons on January 17 to begin their combined 19-year sentence, she instead reported to a Kentucky-based prisoner medical facility.

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