The new attorney for reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley gave an update on their appeal amid their prison sentences.
Jay Surgent, a partner at Weiner Law Group LLP who specializes in white-collar crime, told People exclusively they are unsure of what the future holds but as of last week, they “did our final filings.” Surgent also gave insight into what could potentially happen during the continuous appeals process for the couple.
“The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals can reverse the District Court, or they could remand the case back for hearings that should have been held that were not held during the course of this trial,” he explained.
Surgent revealed they “argued very vigorously that their constitutional rights have been violated” and claimed the couple “basically were not given a fair hearing.”
“It’s all in black and white, actually,” he added.
Following their report to prison, Todd and Julie Chrisley’s former attorney Alex Little of Burr & Forman LLP spoke to People in November 2022 about their plan to appeal their convictions.
“Yesterday was a difficult day for the Chrisley family. But Todd and Julie are people of faith, and that faith gives them strength as they appeal their convictions,” Little said.
He continued, “Their trial was marred by serious and repeated errors, including the government lying to jurors about what taxes the couple paid.”
However, he said they were “optimistic about the road ahead.”
In a 71- page sentencing memorandum written by prosecutors and obtained by Channel 2 out of Atlanta, they stressed: “the seriousness of the Chrisleys’ crimes cannot be understated.”
“After they defrauded community banks out of tens of millions of dollars, they hid millions of dollars from the IRS, all while going on television to boast about how much they spend on designer clothes. And when they learned that they were under investigation for thoseg crimes, they involved their own family members and friends to obstruct justice,” they wrote.
In June 2022, Todd and Julie Chrisley were convicted of fraud.
In January, they were sentenced to a combined 19 years in prison.