(NewsNation) — Reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley were awarded a $1 million settlement after filing a lawsuit against the Georgia director of special investigations.
Alex Little, who represents the “Chrisley Knows Best” couple, said they are optimistic about this settlement helping advance their appeals case; however, the next hurdle lies in getting them released from prison.
“Everyone is pleased with this result. The bigger battle is getting Todd and Julie out of prison, and we think we have a very good argument for doing so,” Little said.
Little said they’re litigating the appeal before a federal appeals court in Atlanta.
“The fact that we’ve gotten this far and gotten the settlement is a sign that there is progress. And that there is an opportunity here to get justice for them,” he said.
The Chrisleys accused the Department of Revenue Director of Special Investigations Joshua Waites of using his position to threaten people on dubious tax claims in a lawsuit filed in 2019, Business Insider reports.
The Chrisleys allege Waites pursued an “increasingly aggressive relationship” with their daughter, Lindsie Chrisley Campbell, to get her “to reveal compromising information about her family.”
Little empathized that it is nearly unprecedented for one arm of government to pay money to defendants when another arm is fighting to keep them in jail.
He explained that their lawsuit was against the state of Georgia, which was the first arm that started the investigation against the Chrisleys. But the arm that prosecuted them as the federal government, which secured convictions they are challenging, specifically, the tax evasion charges on several grounds.
“One of the things that the district court found in that federal case is that Georgia had violated the Fourth Amendment. So, the federal court, when we do the appeals, already started with the presumption that Georgia has violated the Fourth Amendment,” he said. “That’s a key part of our appeal — the federal criminal case.”
He added: “It’s absolutely unprecedented. I’ve never seen a case like this where somebody’s in jail, they’re fighting to get out, and over the same events, another part of the government saying actually, here’s a million dollars.”
In 2022, the Chrisleys were convicted of bank and tax fraud.
Todd Chrisley was sentenced to 12 years in prison, while Julie Chrisley got seven years behind bars. In 2023, they both had time shaved off their sentences.