Todd and Julie Chrisley Get $1 Million Lawsuit Settlement Alleging Misconduct in Probe Against Them

Score one for the Chrisleys. The embattled couple in prison for their part in a bank fraud and tax evasion scheme has been awarded a $1 million settlement in a lawsuit alleging misconduct in an investigation against them.

A lawyer for Todd and Julie Chrisley confirmed to The Messenger on Tuesday that the $1 million settlement will come from Georgia as a result of the couple’s federal lawsuit against the former Director of Special Investigations in Georgia’s Department of Revenue, Joshua Waites.

“We have been saying for months that the criminal case against the Chrisleys was highly unusual and had real problems,” the couple’s lawyer, Alex Little of Burr & Forman LLP, said in a statement. “This settlement is an encouraging sign.” 

“It’s nearly unprecedented for one arm of the government to pay money to defendants when another arm is fighting to keep them in jail,” the statement continued.

The couple filed suit against Waites in October 2019, after they were cleared of a tax evasion charge in Georgia.

In the lawsuit, obtained by People, the couple’s former attorney Michael J. Bowers claimed that Waites’ initial charges were “a shocking example of how an out-of-control public servant can abuse his office and violate the rights of innocent citizens for reasons that have more to do with securing publicity and money for his office than with enforcing the law.”

The lawsuit also claimed that Waites “began to focus his efforts and desire” on the Chrisleys, specifically on Todd and his daughter Lindsie.

Bowers wrote in the lawsuit that Waites failed, but because of his efforts “the Chrisleys were forced to incur substantial personal and financial hardship.”

Meanwhile, Julie and Todd Chrisley's prison release dates have been moved up due to good behavior, The Messenger confirmed in September.

Todd's release date from FPC Pensacola has been scheduled for Jan. 22, 2033, which is nearly two years short of his original 12-year sentence. Julie's scheduled release from FMC Lexington has been moved to Oct. 19, 2028, which is nearly 15 months short of her original seven-year sentence.