Northern District of Georgia | TV personalities sentenced to years in federal prison for fraud and tax evasion

ATLANTA — Todd and Julie Chrisley have been sentenced to 12 and seven years in federal prison, respectively, after a jury convicted them of banking and tax fraud offenses after a nearly three-week jury trial.

“Over the course of a decade, the defendants defrauded banks of tens of millions of dollars while evading the payment of their federal income taxes,” said US Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “Their lengthy sentences reflect the magnitude of their criminal scheme and should serve as a warning to others who may be tempted to exploit our country’s community banking system for illicit personal gain.”

“As this conviction proves, when you lie, cheat and steal, justice is blind to your fame, fortune and position,” said Keri Farley, Acting Special Agent for the FBI Atlanta. “The FBI is proud to work with our law enforcement partners at the IRS and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to prosecute and prosecute individuals who are motivated by greed to evade the law.”

“The Chrisleys have defrauded financial institutions and the federal government through tax evasion and other fraudulent means to minimize their tax liability but present an image of wealth,” said James E. Dorsey, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Atlanta Field Office. “This conviction makes clear that regardless of an individual’s celebrity status, fraud in the American tax system has serious consequences.”

According to U.S. Attorney Buchanan, the charges and other information presented in court read: Todd and Julie Chrisley conspired to defraud community banks in the Atlanta area to obtain more than $36 million in personal loans. To obtain the loans, the Chrisleys, with the help of their former business partner, filed false bank statements, audit reports, and personal financial statements with Georgia’s municipal banks. The Chrisleys spent the money on luxury cars, designer clothes, real estate and travel – and used new fraudulent loans to pay off old ones. After spending all the money, Todd Chrisley filed for bankruptcy and evaded more than $20 million in loans fraudulently obtained.

Later, when Todd and Julie Chrisley were making millions from their TV show, they conspired with their accountant, Peter Tarantino, to defraud the Internal Revenue Service. Throughout the conspiracy, the Chrisleys ran a loan business. To avoid collecting half a million dollars in back taxes from Todd Chrisley, the Chrisleys opened and maintained the company bank accounts in Julie Chrisley’s name only. But after the IRS requested bank account information on Julie Chrisley’s behalf, the Chrisleys transferred ownership of the company bank account to a relative to further hide their income from the IRS.

Additionally, the Chrisleys have not filed tax returns or paid taxes for the 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 tax years. As part of the tax evasion plan, Tarantino was found guilty of filing two false corporate tax returns for the loan company, falsely claiming the company made no money and made no distributions in 2015 and 2016.

The Chrisleys also attempted to obstruct justice before the indictment and during the trial. After learning of the grand jury’s investigation, Julie Chrisley, in response to a grand jury subpoena, submitted a forged document to make it appear that the Chrisleys had not lied to the bank when they transferred ownership of the loan company’s bank account to their relative.

On June 7, 2022, a jury convicted the Chrisleys on all counts of an additional charge, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to evade taxes. The jury convicted Julie Chrisley on another charge of obstruction of justice. Tarantino was also convicted of multiple tax violations.

U.S. District Judge Eleanor L. Ross sentenced the defendants as follows:

• Todd Chrisley, 54, of Brentwood, Tennessee, was sentenced to 12 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

• Julie Chrisley, 49, of Brentwood, Tennessee, was sentenced to seven years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

• Peter Tarantino, 60, of Alpharetta, Georgia, was sentenced to three years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

As part of the sentencing process, the court ordered both Todd and Julie Chrisley to pay compensation and will determine the exact amount at a later date.

This case was investigated by the FBI and the IRS Criminal Investigations.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas J. Krepp, Annalize K. Peters, Alex R. Sistla, Sekret T. Sneed, Vivieon K. Jones and Amy Palumbo presided over the case.

For more information, please contact the US Attorney’s Office of Public Affairs at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The web address of the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.