Donald Trump has pardoned reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley after their conviction for tax evasion and bank fraud in 2022.
The couple’s daughter Savannah, 27, has been campaigning for their release since they reported to prison in January 2023.
On Tuesday, her lobbying paid off when Trump phoned her to confirm he was issuing her parents a full and unconditional pardon.
Highlights
- Donald Trump granted full pardons to Todd and Julie Chrisley, convicted of bank fraud and tax evasion, ending their combined 19-year sentences.
- Savannah Chrisley campaigned tirelessly for her parents’ freedom since January 2023, expressing shock and joy after Trump’s personal phone call.
- Todd was sentenced to 12 years and Julie to 7 years for falsifying documents to secure $36 million in loans; an appeal did not reduce Julie’s sentence.
Todd and Julie Chrisley were sentenced to a combined 19 years in prison
Image credits: Jeff Kravitz/ACMA2017/FilmMagic for ACM
Special Assistant to the President Margo Martin shared a video of the call on social media.
“That's a terrible thing, that's a terrible thing,” Trump told Savannah on the phone. “But it’s a great thing because your parents are going to be free and clean and I hope we can do it by tomorrow, is that okay?
“I don't know them, but give them my regards and wish them good luck,” he added.
“Thank you so much, Mr President,” Savannah replied.
Her brother Grayson added: “Mr President, I just want to say thank you for bringing my parents home.”
“Well, they were given pretty harsh treatment based on what I’m hearing,” Trump responded.
After the call, Savannah, a podcast host and founder of a telehealth service, reacted to the news on social media.
In a video posted to her Instagram account, she said she was “freaking out” and “speechless” as she got clothes together for her parents and readied their rooms for them to come home.
“I have shed so many tears,” she said. “The President called me personally as I was walking into Sam's Club and notified me that he was signing pardon paperwork for both of my parents. So, both my parents are coming home tonight or tomorrow.”
She also posted a statement on X, thanking Trump and his team.
“This moment is bigger than just my family…it’s about an administration that believes in second chances, that restores families, and that brings hope back to the American people,” she wrote.
“To President Trump @realDonaldTrump and his team—thank you for believing in justice over vengeance. My fight was born out of love, but it was sustained by faith, truth, and the unshakable belief that our system should right its wrongs.”
Savannah was 25 when her parents were sent to jail. She became the sole caretaker for her younger siblings, Grayson, 19, and Alice, 12.
Savannah has been campaigning for her parents’ release since 2023
Image credits: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
She has become well known in Republican circles, attending the 2024 Republican National Convention and the 2024 Conservative Political Action Conference, and is a strong Trump supporter.
Her parents, known from the reality show Chrisley Knows Best, were convicted in 2022 on charges of bank fraud and tax evasion after being indicted back in 2019.
Todd was sentenced to 12 years in prison, while Julie received seven years for falsifying documents to secure $36 million in personal loans.
In 2024, an appeals court ruled that Julie shouldn’t have been held responsible for the full scope of the fraud, but her sentence remained unchanged.
Image credits: Paul Archuleta/Getty Images
The couple’s older son Chase, 28, reacted to the news by resharing sister Savannah’s video and posting a selfie of him and Grayson wearing MAGA hats as they thanked Trump.
“I am grateful to God and extremely grateful to President Trump and his entire administration,” he said in a statement to People.
“I’m beyond thankful to finally have my parents back home and my family together again!”
The family thanked Trump, who has issued several pardons since he took office
Image credits: Chase Chrisley
But not everyone was happy with the Chrisleys’ pardon.
Jailed Netflix star Joe Exotic, of Tiger King fame, was outraged that Trump had pardoned the couple while he remained behind bars.
“I guess being innocent is not enough in America,” he fumed on X. “They all admitted to perjury on world television but yet I'm left to die of cancer before I can get any help.”
“Why is it the entire world can see the evidence but the White House refuses to acknowledge that they did this to me knowing that they were lying?”
Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, is serving a 21-year federal prison sentence after being convicted on multiple charges, including a murder-for-hire plot against animal rights activist Carole Baskin.
In 2019, he was found guilty of attempting to hire two men to kill Baskin, offering $10,000 for the job.
He was also convicted of violating the Lacey Act and the Endangered Species Act by falsifying wildlife records and unlawfully killing five tigers.
Image credits: The White House
The Chrisleys’ release comes after Trump pardoned former Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Howard Jenkins, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in March for accepting more than $75,000 in bribes.
Jenkins, 53, accepted bribes in return for appointing several Northern Virginia businessmen as auxiliary deputy sheriffs in his department.
Trump asserted that Jenkins was a victim of the “weaponized Biden DOJ” and claimed he was denied the opportunity to present evidence in his defense during the trial.