Chase Chrisley Says His Parents’ Release Is the “Best Birthday Gift”

by

Chase Chrisley had a happy birthday indeed.

On June 1st, the former star of “Chrisley Knows Best” celebrated his 29th birthday, marking the first time he was able to celebrate with his parents Todd and Julie Chrisley, who had recently returned home following their release from prison. Their return home came after receiving pardons from then-President Donald Trump.

On Instagram Story, Chase celebrated the event by sharing a news article that announced the return of Todd (age 56) and Julie (age 52) to Nashville, Tennessee following their incarceration stints in Florida and Kentucky before their release.

Alongside the news, Chase wrote, “Best birthday gift I could ask for.”

Todd and Julie, who are parents to Savannah (age 27), Grayson (19), and currently care for their granddaughter Chloe (11), were freed from prison following Donald Trump’s signature on a pardon that ordered their immediate release on May 28. It is worth noting that Todd has children Lindsie (35) and Kyle (33) from his previous marriage to Teresa Terry.

In 2022, Todd and Julie were found guilty of tax fraud and tax evasion and were initially facing respective sentences of 10 years and 7 years. However, they were later granted reduced sentences. Post their release, Chase shared heartfelt words about the joyous reunion with his family.

 

According to Chase, during an emotional gathering, we all shared hugs and shed tears. He described it as a truly magical moment, absolutely a response to our prayers. The happiness I experienced is beyond words. (published May 29 in an interview with Entertainment Tonight)

Regarding his parents – who tied the knot back in 1996 but maintained zero communication throughout their prison terms – they experienced a heartfelt reunion.

Chase continued, “They were both overcome with emotion and started crying uncontrollably.” He went on to say, “My father embraced my mother tightly, and I believe that hug will last forever.

Keep reading to look back on Todd and Julie’s legal case…

In August 2019, a federal grand jury in Atlanta accused Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley of 12 counts, including wire fraud, conspiring to commit bank fraud, and defrauding the United States. According to documents acquired by NBC News, prosecutors alleged that the fraudulent activities started around the mid-2000s and involved several offenses such as evading approximately $2 million in state taxes from 2008 to 2016, and concealing more than $1 million from the Internal Revenue Service.

On the day prior to the issuance of the indictment, Todd asserted that he and his spouse were not guilty. He suggested, alternatively, that a loyal employee was embezzling from and extorting the couple instead.

In his Instagram post, he declared, “There’s nothing secretive about us, and we have no reasons to be embarrassed. We are confident beyond doubt that we haven’t done anything wrong. Furthermore, we possess substantial proof and numerous credible witnesses who can vouch for our innocence.

Three years passed before the stars of “Chrisley Knows Best” stood trial. Over a span of three weeks, numerous testimonies were heard. Despite pleading not guilty, they were found guilty on all charges related to tax evasion and bank fraud on June 7, 2022.

It was claimed by the U.S. attorney’s office that the pair, along with their accountant named Peter Tarantino, had collaborated on a scheme to deceive banks out of approximately $30 million over a ten-year period. This trio faced trial together for these allegations.

In Keri Farley’s statement from June 2022, as the recent events have demonstrated, fame, fortune, and high position offer no protection against justice when one resorts to deceit, dishonesty, and theft. To put it simply, the final judgment of guilty on all charges for these three defendants serves as a reminder that unscrupulous financial dealings ultimately do not yield favorable outcomes.

After a span of five months, the Northern District of Georgia handed down sentences: Todd received a 12-year imprisonment term, while Julie was given a sentence of seven years. Meanwhile, Peter was penalized with a three-year jail term.

For approximately ten years, the accused individuals swindled banks out of multiple millions of dollars by deceiving them, all while avoiding paying their federal taxes. As stated by U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan in November 2022, the severe sentences they received demonstrate the gravity of their criminal activity and should act as a deterrent to anyone considering misusing our country’s community banking system for illicit personal profits.

In September 2023, the sentences for both Julie and Todd were reduced. Specifically, Julie’s release date was moved up by one year and three months, while Todd’s was brought forward by two years from its original 2035 release date.

Jay Surgent, the attorneys for Todd and Julie, shared with Insider in September 2023 that they are exceptional inmates who were given lengthy prison terms. He stated, “I am confident that Todd’s sentence is currently at ten years, while Julie’s stands at five years.

In January 2023, the pair began serving their individual prison terms: Todd was incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution (FPI) in Pensacola, Florida, while Julie was detained at a separate federal penitentiary in Lexington, Kentucky.

After spending six months in separate prisons, Savannah Chrisley provided an update on how her parents, Julie and Todd, were faring. She disclosed that, during this period, there was no communication between them while they served their sentences.

195 days of silence between us… she expressed on her August 2023 Instagram post. My spirit aches… I implore, seek fairness and justice!

She also pushed back at rumors about their time in prison.

She found it amusing because one of them commented, “He’s let himself go,” according to her on the podcast Unlocked with Savannah Chrisley. To clarify, there’s no hair color available in prisons. Therefore, it’s natural for his hair to be gray. However, if I were to meet him now, I would tell him that he looks great with his gray hair and the prison barber has done a fine job.

Nevertheless, Todd voiced his concerns about the treatment he received at the federal prison camp in Pensacola, Florida, even though he was confined within bars.

In a December 2023 phone call on the show Cuomo, he stated, “The food has exceeded its expiration date by a year.

He went on to say, “There are rats and squirrels infesting your storage facility where the food is kept. They concealed it with plastic sheets, but then they tore open the ceiling due to the extensive black mold growth. In doing so, they uncovered a deceased cat in the ceiling, which unfortunately fell onto the food.

Apart from the atrocities happening inside the cafeteria, he claimed that someone additionally tried to blackmail his loved ones.

He mentioned that a photo was snapped of him asleep and it was forwarded to his daughter. He requested $2,600 per month for his safety services in return.

In the absence of their parents, it’s Savannah who takes care of her younger siblings, Grayson and Chloe. She has shared that the consequences of her parents’ incarceration and the distance between them have been a heavy burden for her to bear.

In a conversation with TopMob News in March 2024, she revealed that the last time they had contact was when they were taken to federal prison together. She claimed there has been significant backlash against her father due to our vocal criticism of the prison conditions,” she stated.

In actuality, she claimed that the prison authorities were obstructing much of his email communications with her mother.

In all honesty, I can’t help but be swept away by the intensity of it all, yet I don’t wish for this journey to solely revolve around me. At times, it’s almost too much to bear!

Savannah shared on her podcast, Unlocked in April 2024, that she finds it hard to accept the fact that life seems to carry on without Mom and Dad, as if they are no longer a part of it. Similarly, she sometimes feels that way about certain people in her own life because it appears they keep living their lives without much regard for her presence.

She went on to say, “I’m finding it hard to breathe, caught up as I am with various matters – be it the financial strain of raising children, or the challenges of parenthood itself, or even my personal relationships.

In June 2024, Julie’s seven-year prison term was reversed by a three-judge panel from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Although they affirmed her convictions, the court determined that the judge in the 2022 trial had made an error in calculating the sentence for the reality TV personality.

The judges explained in their decision that the district court did not specify the evidence it used to convict Julie for losses that happened before 2007. As a result, we cannot locate this evidence ourselves from the case records. Consequently, the judges have decided to overturn Julie’s sentence and return the case back to the district court so they can make the required findings and calculations regarding Julie’s loss, restitution, forfeiture, and sentencing her again.

The decision was made to send her case to a lower court for them to decide on any adjustments to her sentence, whereas Todd’s sentence remained unchanged.

After three months, a court in Atlanta confirmed the initial seven-year prison sentence for Julie following the reversal of her earlier sentence. In a heartfelt apology, she expressed remorse not only to the court but also to her children.

During the September 25th court hearing as reported by People, Julie expressed, “I’ve had ample time to reflect on what I wish to communicate, and I deeply regret the actions and circumstances that have brought us here. Over the past 20 months, I’ve been in prison, but my regret extends beyond this period; it encompasses the events leading up to this trial, for which I apologize.

She’s made every possible effort to reconnect with her family. She’s even learned new abilities like driving a forklift and serving food properly. This phase of her life has been particularly challenging. She can never fully compensate her children for the hardships they’ve endured, and for that, she deeply regrets.

The Chrisleys are returning home. They secured a presidential pardon from Donald Trump, as he shared with Savannah during a phone call on May 27, 2025.

For the last two and a half years, Savannah has tirelessly worked to advocate for her parents’ release and their return home, as she shared in a statement to TopMob News. This moment of victory is the answer to many prayers, and Savannah expresses heartfelt gratitude towards President Trump for recognizing the truth and reuniting her family.

They were both released on May 28, 2025.

Watch
TopMob News

weeknights Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m., only on TopMob.

Read More

2025-06-02 15:47