Former ‘Chrisley Knows Best’ star Savannah Chrisley reads from letters her mother Julie has written from prison, revealing her final moments with husband Todd before they started their prison sentences for tax fraud, and how much she misses him.
Julie Chrisley’s loneliness and heartache in prison were shared when her daughter Savannah Chrisley read from some of her mom’s prison letters. The most common refrain was how much she missed her husband, Chrisley Knows Best star Todd Chrisley.
Both Todd and Julie are spending time in separate states and prisons after their convictions for bank and tax fraud, surrendering themselves in January 2023. Todd is serving a reduced 10-year sentence in Pensacola, Florida, while Julie’s reduced five-year stint is in Lexington, Kentucky.
Getty
Todd Chrisley First Prison Interview: ‘Filthy,’ ‘Starving’ Inmates, Black Mold, Dead Cat, Blackmail
View Story
One of the letters Savannah read from on the latest episode of her Unlocked podcast was written January 17, 2023, shortly after Julie’s sentence began. In it, she detailed her final moments before she and her husband would be separated for years.
Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.
“I knew my life was about to change forever,” Savannah read. “My husband and I stood in our bedroom right in front of our prayer bench and said our goodbyes.”
“We hugged, we kissed and we prayed before he walked out the door heading to Pensacola, Florida with Savannah, Grayson and Nick,” she continued. “This would be the last time I would speak to my husband face to face.”
Julie said that they spoke on the phone on his way to Pensacola and one more time before she surrendered herself in Lexington. “What a sobering thought, the man I had lived with, raised a family with and loved more than life itself is now temporarily residing in Florida, and me in Kentucky,” she wrote.
I miss his voice. I miss being able to lay in bed beside each other. I miss my person
She shared how her mind was struggling to process what was happening to her even as it was happening. She wrote, “I could not wrap my head around the fact that I was going to be separated from my husband and children for what seems like a lifetime.”
“We turned onto the road that the prison is located, passing white vans with paparazzi in them,” recalled Julie. “My family said their goodbyes and I walked into prison with nothing but the clothes on my back.”
According to Savannah, every one of Julie’s letters emphasizes how much she misses her husband. “It was great seeing the kids and Mom and Dad this week, but I miss Todd so bad. I miss his voice. I miss being able to lay in bed beside each other. I miss my person,” she wrote in another letter.
Getty
Lindsie Chrisley No Longer Willing to Publicly ‘Engage in Unhealthy’ Feud With Sister Savannah
View Story
“I can just feel her hurt through these messages and to just think about how different life is now, a year, almost a year and a half later,” said Savannah, “But like this is her life now. And it’s so different than obviously what it was before, in just the emotional aspect of it of having to miss your family so much.”
Making it even harder for Julie, in some ways, is the fact that the family’s fame made its way into the prison, “so they’re always talking about him, which I love but it still makes me sad, too.”
Julie and Todd have continued to maintain their innocence, even after they were found guilty in 2022. They were indicted in August 2019 on 12 counts of bank fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy, and tax evasion. The latter was cleared in October 2019.
They have appealed their guilty verdicts, with a hearing scheduled for April 15.
Getty