With the stroke of a pen, Donald Trump has set Todd Chrisley free from his 12-year prison sentence. On May 27, 2025, the President of the United States issued a full pardon to Todd and his wife, Julie Chrisley. She was sitting on her own seven-year sentence.
The news has the rest of the Chrisley family jumping for joy and hailing Trump as their savior. Meanwhile, Lifetime greenlit a new reality show for them to showcase their new chapter.
Things are finally looking up for the Chrisleys, but after such a lengthy legal battle, it’s easy to forget what landed them behind bars in the first place.
When did Todd Chrisley first go to prison?
Todd Chrisley went to prison on January 17, 2023, after being sentenced to 12 years due to a guilty sentence on federal fraud charges and hiding wealth from tax authorities.
For context, the Chrisleys’ legal woes have been dragging on since 2017. That’s when they were first investigated by the state of Georgia for failing to pay income taxes. Then, things escalated when the feds got involved.
In 2019, the federal government accused the Chrisleys of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Those federal charges are what wound up sending Todd to prison for 12 years.
Throughout the entire ordeal, Julie and Todd have maintained their innocence. When they got behind bars in 2023, they passed the baton to their daughter, Savannah Chrisley. She’s been leading the charge to get them out of jail. She rebranded herself into a conservative influencer and self-proclaimed prison reform advocate.
“I know that I am going through the proper channels to do so, and I’m going to bring as much awareness to it as possible because these things should not happen,” Savannah said in an interview earlier this year.
Sure enough, she went through the proper channels, and Trump granted both of them a pardon. He called Savannah to share the news, claiming that the Chrisleys were unfairly treated when they were found guilty of trying to defraud the country.
“Your parents are going to be free and clean, and I hope we can do it by tomorrow,” Trump said. “They were given a pretty harsh treatment, based on what I’m hearing, pretty harsh treatment.”
Chrisley Knows Best is streaming on Peacock.
TELL US – WERE YOU SURPRISED BY TRUMP’S PARDON? DO YOU THINK THE CHRISLEYS WERE HARSHLY TREATED?
