CNN —
In the 2014 premiere of “Chrisley Knows Best,” Atlanta real estate magnate Todd Chrisley gives the cameras a tour of his immaculately organized closet and boasts that his family spends about $300,000 a year and “sometimes more” on clothes spends
Chrisley – along with his family, which includes wife Julie Chrisley – rose to fame for flaunting their opulent lifestyle on their USA Network TV show.
Less than a decade later, reality has caught up with the reality TV family.
In June, Todd and Julie Chrisley were found guilty of conspiring to defraud banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans and tax evasion, and last month were sentenced to federal prison for their convictions.
“I really read and prayed and prayed with my prayer partner and believed that there is a purpose to the journey we are all on. There’s a purpose,” Julie Chrisley said on the latest episode of the family’s Chrisley Confessions podcast.
Todd Chrisley was sentenced to 12 years in prison while Julie Chrisley was sentenced to seven years. After their release, both will be suspended for three years.
The two have maintained their innocence and their lawyers have said the couple plans to appeal the verdict in their case.
They are ordered to arrive in Florida jails in mid-January to serve their sentences – a world that will be a far cry from the lavish surroundings they became famous for.
“I believe that true growth comes from the deepest part of the pain,” Todd Chrisley added on her podcast. “I think the harder it gets, the closer we have to clinging to God.”
Here’s a rundown of Chrisley’s ups and downs.
Todd and Julie Chrisley marry and the couple welcome their first child together, son Chase. Daughter Savannah is born the following year. Grayson Chrisley, their third child, will be born in 2006. (Todd Chrisley also has two children from a previous marriage, daughter Lindsie and son Kyle.)
Julie Chrisley is diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoes a double mastectomy. She later reflected on the support her husband offered through her treatment in a 2018 interview with The Tennessean.
“I really think that moment took our relationship to a whole different level,” she told the publication.
Launching in March, Chrisley Knows Best highlights the family’s affluent lifestyle. Behind the scenes, prosecutors would later claim the two had been in financial trouble.
The couple will gain custody of son Kyle Chrisley and Angela Johnson’s daughter Chloe following their birth a year earlier. Years later, Kyle opened up about his substance abuse problem in a Facebook post.
“I wasn’t Chloe’s best dad, I had a drug problem, I was being completely ridiculous and they stood by my side through it all,” he wrote in August 2019.
As the show’s popularity grows, Todd Chrisley receives the Reality King award at the American Reality Television Awards.
Chrlsley Knows Best airs its groundbreaking 100th episode. In August, the first episode of the couple’s podcast, “Chrisley Confessions,” premieres on the iHeartRadio Network.
Chrisley Knows Best stars charged with tax evasion (2019)
The couple faces charges including tax evasion and bank fraud.
Todd Chrisley denies the allegations, saying he and his wife have “nothing to hide” and were framed by a former employee.
The federal case against the couple begins with the government saying in opening statements that the Chrisleys overstated their earnings to the banks and borrowed more than $30 million that they were unable to repay.
According to an Insider report, the Chrisleys are accusing a former employee of duping them in their opening speech.
Prosecutors argue that the Chrisleys hid millions of dollars in income from their TV show from the IRS and did not file tax returns from 2013 to 2016.
After a three-week trial, the Chrisleys are convicted on all charges in a federal court in Georgia.
The couple will be placed under house arrest and electronically monitored pending sentencing.
Sentencing dates for the two are being pushed back to November 21 after they filed a request for a new trial. The joint application is rejected by the judge.
Todd Chrisley is sentenced to 12 years in prison and 16 months probation. Julie is sentenced to seven years and 16 months probation.
Deadline reports “Chrisley Knows Best” and its spinoffs “Growing Up Chrisley” and “Love Limo” have all been cancelled.
USA Network will air an abbreviated 10th season in 2023.