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Todd Chrisley and his reality star wife, Julie, entered separate prisons on Jan. 17 to start their lengthy combined 19-year sentences. Todd, 53, was sentenced to 12 years in a federal prison in Pensacola, Florida. Julie, 50, was sentenced to 7 years in a prison located in Lexington, Kentucky, which is located within a few hours’ drive from where most of their family members live in Nashville, Tennessee, Although the duo — who was found guilty on federal charges that included tax evasion, bank fraud, and wire fraud — are locked away in prison locations that are in separate states, a source close to the Chrisley family told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that the fact that they are able to speak to their family members has helped them during this time.
“Todd and Julie have had several phone calls with their children and family,” the source told us. As fans know, Savannah, 25, is taking care of her brother Kyle‘s biological daughter, Chloe, 10, who was adopted by Todd and Julie. Savannah is also currently the guardian to her younger brother, Grayson, 16, while her parents are locked up. In addition, she is also helping Todd’s 77-year-old mother, Nanny Faye. In Nov. 2022, Todd revealed that his mother, who was a regular on their now-canceled Chrisley Knows Best show, had bladder cancer. “For these calls, a couple of their family members have been together,” the source told us.
So, how are Todd and Julie — who have appealed their case in hopes of getting their conviction overturned — dealing with life behind bars? “They are doing the best they can, considering their circumstances. The family is planning to visit them within the next several weeks and their visits will be staggered,” the source told us, adding, “Julie is much easier to visit than Todd due to the distance between them.” However, it isn’t quite that simple. HollywoodLife has acquired handbooks from each of their prisons, which outline strict rules regarding how much time Todd and Julie can chat, and see, their family members.
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For both Todd and Julie, all of their phone calls are recorded and monitored — regardless of who they are talking to. However, Julie’s prison is more lenient when it comes to phone usage. According to Lexington’s official BOP handbook, prisoners at Lexington are able to use the telephone from their jail cells with a system called TRUFONE. “Each inmate will be provided a nine-digit Phone Access Code (PAC) for accessing TRUFONE” and the “hours are from 6:00 a.m. until 11:30 p.m.” the rules state. On the other hand, Todd’s prison in Pensacola only allows prisoners 300 minutes of phone calls per month, Pensacola’s BOP handbook states.
Although both prisons in Lexington and Pensacola allow visitors, the rules vary slightly on visitation. Todd’s prison only allows two visitors per week and the visits are heavily monitored. The handbook states, “Each inmate desiring visitors must request a visiting list, which may include immediate family members and other visitors. The list is limited to (10) friends and associates and is submitted to the inmate s assigned Correctional Counselor.” The prison in Lexington, where Julie is spending her time, allows visitors based on a point system.
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According to the document, “Inmates are granted a total of (16) visiting points a month. Visits that occur on weekdays are counted as (2) points, and visits that occur on weekends and holidays count as four (4) points.” The advantage for Julie — aside from being a short drive away — is that she can have all of her kids visit at the same time, as the handbook revealed that “inmates may have a total of five visitors at one time” at the prison in Lexington.
Following Todd and Julie’s sentencing on Nov. 21, 2022, the Department of Justice released a statement that detailed the convicted Chrisley couple’s expenditures. According to the official release, Todd and Julie were able to obtain loans by submitting false bank statements, financial statements, and audit reports — totaling more than $30 million. “The money was used to buy luxury cars, designer clothes, real estate, and travel. While earning millions of dollars on their former reality show they conspired to defraud the IRS and evade collection of delinquent taxes.”
HollywoodLife reached out to a rep for the Chrisley family, who has not yet responded.
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