Reality star Todd Chrisley sounds alarm on prison conditions
- Chrisley is serving a 10-year sentence at a federal prison in Florida
- He alleges the food is unsafe for consumption
- Chrisley spoke to NewsNation, alleging he has been targeted by staff
(NewsNation) — Reality star Todd Chrisley is sounding the alarm about the conditions in a Florida prison, warning they are dangerous, especially for elderly prisoners.
“Chrisley Knows Best” was one of the most-watched shows on cable TV for a decade, but the family empire crumbled when Todd and Julie Chrisley were convicted of bank and tax fraud.
For the first time, Todd Chrisley is speaking exclusively with NewsNation from behind bars. His lawyer facilitated the conversation.
Todd said he feels he’s been treated unfairly.
“There are recordings of staff members here talking about ‘he needs to be humbled. What we need to do is put him in diesel therapy and put him in shackles and let him ride around the country and bring him back and will humble him. He thinks he is in one of his mansions but this is the f—ing BOP. That is what he will need,'” Todd said.
Todd is currently serving his sentence at a federal prison camp in Pensacola, Florida. He was initially sentenced to 12 years, which was reduced to 10. Julie Chrisley’s sentence was reduced to five years, which she is serving in Kentucky. As long as both are imprisoned, they are not able to speak to each other.
He said he wants to expose what is happening in the prison. Todd told NewsNation that food is out of date by at least a year and he only eats what he can buy in commissary.
“You have got rats, you have got squirrels in the storage facility where the food is. They just covered it up with plastic and tore the ceiling out because of all the black mold, and they found a dead cat in the ceiling that fell down on top of the food,” he said.
When NewsNation reached out, the prison said the food served is nutritious and safe.
Todd and Julie’s daughter Savannah Chrisley said it is now her mission to improve prison conditions and prove her parents are innocent.
There was a victory for the family last month when oral arguments were granted in the couple’s appeal.
Savannah said she feels her family was treated unfairly and made an example of.
“I know that will cause a lot of ruffled feathers,” she said. “People will look at us and think, ‘Why should we feel bad for you? Look at the life you lived.'”
But there’s more to it than the image the Chrisleys portrayed on TV, she said.
“What a lot of people don’t realize is there were two cases,” Savannah said. “There was a case in Georgia and a federal case. At one point they started working together. Within the Georgia Department of Revenue, there was a dart board they were using with my dad’s face on it. He was always a target.”
Chrisley attorney Jay Sturgent said the financial documents used as the foundation of the case against the Chrisleys were obtained illegally from the Chrisley’s warehouse without a warrant.
“Basically fruits of the poisonous tree,” Sturgent said. “It was illegally seized pursuant to no search warrant by the revenue service of Georgia, taken out of the warehouse and used against them at trial. The U.S. government just picked it up and used it against them at the trial, which is pivotal.”
The Chrisleys said that is reason enough for a new trial or for their convictions to be overturned.
“I know that God has a greater purpose, that God has a greater plan,” Todd said. “I am not going to let the federal government destroy our family. The prosecutor said we were the southern version of the Trumps. I’m not going to let someone like him break my family.”