Todd Chrisley has gone through several legal troubles over the past year. It has gotten to the point where he has finally relented on one of the lawsuits he was involved in. Chrisley has reportedly dropped an appeal he had filed in a defamation lawsuit.
Here is what you need to know about the lawsuit Chrisley dropped and what it means.
Todd Chrisley Drops Defamation Lawsuit Appeal
During the initial investigation, Todd Chrisley attacked Department of Revenue investigator Amy Doherty-Heinze on social media and said the “investigation was illegal and improperly motivated.” Doherty-Heinze sued Chrisley for defamation.
Like with most of his legal problems, Todd lost this lawsuit. In April, the federal judge found Chrisley guilty of one count of libel and one count of slander. The jury awarded Doherty-Heinze compensatory damages of $350,000 plus punitive damages of $170,000 and attorney’s fees, totaling about $755,000 in overall damages.
Chrisley appealed the decision. However, he has since voluntarily dropped the appeal (via WSB-TV 2). The dropping of the appeal is “pursuant to the joint stipulation of the parties to dismiss.”
While Todd has dropped his appeal against the Doherty-Heinze decision, Todd and Julie Chrisley are still appealing their conviction in the bank fraud and tax evasion case.
Todd & Julie Chrisley Lose Even More Money
Todd and Julie Chrisley also just lost a $30,000 trust held in Alabama. A federal judge ordered that they turn over that money to help pay the $17 million judgment following their guilty verdict. The judge said the couple could respond to the order, but when they didn’t, he ordered the money to be turned over by the law firm.
The Chrisleys were found guilty of committing tax evasion and defrauding banks out of over $30 million in loans. Julie was also found guilty of obstruction of justice and wire fraud. They were sentenced to 12 years (Todd) and seven years (Julie) in prison.
Todd is set to be released on November 23, 2032, and Julie on August 20, 2028. This is two years early for Todd and 14 months earlier for Julie.
The Chrisleys said that “an Internal Revenue Service officer lied on the witness stand about how much money the defendants owed the IRS at the time of their trial.” However, the federal judge refused to hold a hearing on those allegations. The couple’s attorney said they didn’t owe any money to the IRS at the time of the trial but the revenue officer was told to lie on the stand.
U.S. Assistant Attorney, Annalise Peters said that: “Whether or not any taxes were owed at the time of the trial was immaterial to any element to any charge in this case.” (via AOL.com)
What are your thoughts on Todd Chrisley dropping his appeal in the defamation case? Do you think there is any chance the Chrisleys will get out of prison before their sentences end? Let us know in the comments below.
