President Donald Trump signed pardons Wednesday for reality TV stars Julie and Todd Chrisley, who were serving federal prison sentences after being convicted three years ago of bank fraud and tax evasion.
The pardons paved the way for the couple, best known for the TV series “Chrisley Knows Best,” to be freed hours later. Todd Chrisley was released from a minimum-security prison camp in Pensacola in the evening, and Julie Chrisley left a facility in Lexington, Kentucky, according to Shannen Sharpe, a spokesperson for the couple's attorney.
Prosecutors said at trial that the Chrisleys had not yet become TV stars when they and a former business partner submitted false documents to banks in the Atlanta area to obtain fraudulent loans.
New loans were taken out to pay off the old ones, according to prosecutors, until Todd Chrisley filed for bankruptcy, walking away from more than $20 million in unpaid loans.
The defense argued that an IRS officer gave false testimony during the trial and that prosecutors lacked evidence to support convictions.
A panel of judges of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Chrisleys’ convictions last year.
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