Here’s an item from today’s CNN news:
“Todd and Julie Chrisley are speaking out about the “very sad, heartbreaking time” for their family after they were convicted of conspiracy to defraud banks of more than $30 million in loans.” (See story here.)
The Chrisleys (photo, left), if you don’t know, are the stars of a reality TV show (details here).
The CNN story continues, “The ‘Chrisley Knows Best’ stars and their accountant, Peter Tarantino, were also convicted of several tax crimes, and Julie Chrisley was found guilty of obstruction of justice and wire fraud.”
After allowing as how “we’re not allowed to talk about it at the present time,” which is the standard advice lawyers give to clients facing serious prison time, Todd Chrisley added, “we still hold steadfast in our faith and we trust that God will do what he does best because God’s a miracle worker and that’s what we’re holding out for.”
In our country, it’s hard to convict innocent people of crimes (unless, of course, they’re black, which they’re are not), so I’m going to assume they’re guilty for purposes of this post. That being the case, I’m not sure what miracle he’s hoping for — forgiveness?
Anyway, the love being showered on them is touching: “Todd Chrisley said they have received gifts and messages from fans and have even had people drop off food and drive for hours to bring flowers to their front door.”
Maybe their well-wishers want them to enjoy one last taste of something that doesn’t taste like prison food?
By the way, Wikipedia notes that Julie “is the daughter of a Baptist minister.” (I’m pretty tempted to say, “Aren’t they all?” but that’s probably not true in every case.)
According to an Associated Press story (here), “Prosecutors alleged that the Chrisleys submitted fake documents to banks when applying for loans. They said Julie Chrisley also submitted a false credit report and fake bank statements when trying to rent a house in California. They [also] used a company they controlled to hide income to keep the IRS from collecting unpaid taxes owed by Todd Chrisley, prosecutors said.”
The AP story continues, “Before the Chrisleys became reality television stars, they and a former business partner submitted false documents to banks in the Atlanta area to obtain millions of dollars in fraudulent loans, prosecutors said. They spent lavishly on luxury cars, designer clothes, real estate and travel and used new fraudulent loans to pay old ones, they said. Todd Chrisley then filed for bankruptcy, walking away from more than $20 million in loans, prosecutors said. While her husband was in bankruptcy proceedings, Julie Chrisley created false financial documents to rent a home in Los Angeles, prosecutors said. Once they were in the house, they failed to pay rent and the property owner filed an eviction lawsuit.”
At this point, I’ll confess that I have a “tough on crime” attitude. As the news reports above make clear, this couple stole $20 million and lived high on it, and didn’t pay it back even when they became successful and rich, and could’ve done so. Instead, they hid their legitimately-earned millions to avoid paying taxes on it. And even stiffed a landlord.
Why would anyone feel sorry for ripoff artists like these? Or send them gifts and flowers? Or continue to be fans of their show? Are we losing our sense of values in this country? Or is it because, as Johnny Carson said years ago, “everyone likes a good scam” (video below), and they think the Chrisleys are good at it? (If they are, then why did they get caught?)
Anyway, what show? Is Julie going to broadcast her cooking routines from a prison kitchen from now on? I’ll bet she’d have a lot of fans for that, and the prosecutor would be one of them.