The 'Chrisley Knows Best' stars reported to prison on Tuesday.
Savannah Chrisley has thoughts about Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah’s prison time. On Tuesday’s episode of her Unlocked With Savannah Chrisley podcast, the reality TV star was joined by her mother, Julie Chrisley, in an episode that was recorded before she was set to report to prison.
During the conversation, Savannah brought up the disparities between her parents' legal battle and Shah’s, as they were found guilty of similar federal crimes. On Jan. 6, Shah was sentenced to six and a half years in prison, plus five years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing.
Todd, 53, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and 16 months probation, while Julie, 50, was sentenced to seven years in prison and 16 months probation after both were found guilty of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax fraud in November.
While speaking about a post on the Not Skinny Not Fat Instagram account that compared Shah's sentence to the Chrisleys' sentences, Savannah shared that she simply does not believe it’s fair.
"You have one case, Jen Shah, who has admitted to guilt, who has said she would not appeal her conviction if she got less than 12 years," the host said. "There were hundreds of victims who were elderly, and people provided statements who lost homes and threatened to end their lives. She got six and a half years! Make that make sense."
Savannah continued, "On the other side, you have someone who has not admitted to guilt, who will stand firm in that. In a way, that hurt us because they wanted us to say we were guilty, but we never did that because it’s not the truth…. there are no victims."
Julie added, "There were no victim statements read or received to our knowledge."
As Savannah spoke about the cases, Julie agreed, but did not offer much additional insight on Shah's case.
Julie did talk about the moments that followed after her and Todd’s motion for bail pending their appeal was denied.
"Two days ago was a really rough day for me," the Chrisley family matriarch said. "And it really shouldn’t have been a rough day for me," she added about the day in court.
Savannah said after witnessing "how broken the system is," she had no faith that it would work in her parents' favor. However, Julie was still optimistic.
"To me, it was a sense of hope," Julie said. "I was thinking 'OK, this could be it.' So I was disappointed, so it, emotionally, was a really rough day for me and I ended up making it back to Nashville in time to take Chloe to therapy, so that was a blessing, and you asked me to go to church. And I was tired because emotionally it had exhausted me, and I had driven all the way there and back and I knew it was the devil saying, ‘Just get your pajamas on.' But my child had asked me to go to church. I’m going to church and I am so glad that I went."
Julie said that she is still holding on to her faith as she and her husband begin their terms.
"Man will let you down. People are not always who they say you are," she said. "People don’t always have your best intentions at heart. I have become stronger in knowing that I’m going to get through it. I may have some bumpy roads ahead. My kids may have some bumpy roads ahead. My husband. But we’re going to get through it."
On Tuesday, Julie and Todd officially surrendered and began their prison sentences. Todd reported to Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Pensacola in Florida, a minimum security facility.
Julie, meanwhile, was originally set to report to FCI Marianna in Jackson County, Florida, just two hours away, but reported instead to Federal Medical Center Lexington in Lexington, Kentucky, after being re-designated to the facility on Dec. 20. FMC Lexington houses both male and female inmates requiring medical or mental health care and holds inmates of all security classifications.
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