ATLANTA (AP) — Reality TV star Julie Chrisley’s sentence for bank fraud and tax evasion was thrown out Friday by federal appeals judges, who ordered a lower court to redo her punishment over what the appellate panel called a “narrow issue.”
Julie Chrisley and her husband, Todd Chrisley, who earned fame for the show "Chrisley Knows Best" that chronicled the exploits of their tight-knit family, were convicted in 2022 of conspiring to defraud community banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans. The Chrisleys were also found guilty of tax evasion by hiding their earnings while showcasing an extravagant lifestyle.
The couple's accountant, Peter Tarantino, stood trial with them and was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States and willfully filing false tax returns.
A three-judge panel of 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the convictions of the Chrisleys and Tarantino in a ruling that found a legal error only in how the trial judge calculated Julie Chrisley's sentence by holding her accountable for the entire bank fraud scheme. So the appellate panel sent her case back to the lower court for re-sentencing.
Before the Chrisleys became reality television stars, they and a former business partner submitted false documents to banks in the Atlanta area to obtain fraudulent loans, prosecutors said during the trial. They accused the couple of spending lavishly on luxury cars, designer clothes, real estate and travel, and using new fraudulent loans to pay off old ones. Todd Chrisley then filed for bankruptcy, according to prosecutors, walking away from more than $20 million in unpaid loans.
Julie Chrisley was sentenced to seven years in federal prison, and Todd Chrisley got 12 years behind bars. The couple was also ordered to pay $17.8 million in restitution.
Their defense attorneys argued unsuccessfully on appeal that at an IRS officer lied at the trial when he testified about the couple still owing taxes and that prosecutors knowingly failed to correct that false testimony. They also asserted that prosecutors failed to show enough evidence to convict the Chrisleys of tax evasion and conspiracy, or that Julie Chrisley participated in bank fraud.
Tarantino's lawyer argued that the accountant was harmed by being tried with the Chrisleys. His request for a new trial was denied.
The appellate judges found only one error with the case. They ruled that the trial judge at sentencing held Julie Chrisley responsible for the entire bank fraud scheme starting in 2006. The panel ruled neither prosecutors nor the trial judge cited "any specific evidence showing she was involved in 2006."
The panel found sufficient evidence tying her to fraud from multiple years starting in 2007.
“We must vacate Julie’s sentence so the district court can address the narrow issue of what the proper loss amount attributable to Julie is” so that her sentence can be re-calculated, the appeals panel wrote.
Alex Little, an attorney for the Chrisleys, did not immediately respond to an email message seeking comment Friday evening.
Todd Chrisley, 56, is at a minimum security federal prison camp in Pensacola, Florida, with a release date in September 2032, while Julie Chrisley, 51, is at a facility in Lexington, Kentucky, and is due for release in July 2028, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.
Tarantino, 61, s being held in a minimum security federal prison camp in Montgomery, Alabama, with a release date in August of next year.
FILE - Todd Chrisley, left, and his wife, Julie Chrisley, pose for photos at the 52nd annual Academy of Country Music Awards on April 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. Reality TV star Julie Chrisley's sentence for bank fraud and tax evasion has been thrown out by federal appeals judges, who have ordered a lower court to redo her punishment, Friday, June 21, 2024.(Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivia’s government on Thursday announced that a total of 17 people have been arrested over their alleged involvement in the attempted coup that shook the economically troubled country the day before.
The South American nation of 12 million watched in shock and bewilderment Wednesday as military forces appeared to turn on the government of President Luis Arce, seizing control of the capital’s main square with armored vehicles, crashing a tank into the presidential palace and unleashing tear gas on protesters. In the following hours, the army general who led the attempted coup, Juan José Zúñiga, and an alleged co-conspirator, former navy Vice Adm. Juan Arnez Salvador, were both arrested and remain in custody.
Senior Cabinet member Eduardo del Castillo did not elaborate on the other 15 people who have been arrested. He said one was a civilian identified as Aníbal Aguilar Gómez, whom he called the “mastermind” of the thwarted coup.
Del Castillo said the government was pursuing more suspects and that the alleged conspirators began plotting in May.
Supporters of Bolivia's president rallied outside his palace on Thursday, giving some political breathing room to the embattled leader as they chanted pro-democracy slogans.
Riot police guarded the palace doors and Arce — who has struggled to manage the country's shortages of foreign currency and fuel — condemned Zúñiga.
Analysts say that the surge of public support for Arce, even if fleeting, provides him with a much-needed reprieve from the country’s economic quagmire and political turmoil. The president is locked in a deepening rivalry with the popular former President Evo Morales, his erstwhile ally who has threatened to challenge Arce in 2025 primaries.
“The president’s management has been very bad, there are no dollars, there is no petrol,” said La Paz-based political analyst Paul Coca. “Yesterday’s military move is going to help his image a bit, but it’s no solution.”
Some protesters gathered outside the police station where the former army general was being detained, shouting that he should go to jail. “It’s a shame what Zúñiga did,” said 47-year-old Dora Quispe, one of the demonstrators. “We are in a democracy, not a dictatorship.”
Before his arrest late Wednesday, Zúñiga alleged without providing evidence that Arce had ordered the general to carry out the coup attempt in a ruse to boost the president’s popularity. That fueled a frenzy of speculation about what really happened, and opposition senators and government critics echoed the accusations, calling the mutiny a “self-coup" — a claim strongly denied by Arce's government.
In La Paz's main Plaza Murillo, supporters addressed Arce, yelling “Lucho, you are not alone!” as fireworks exploded overhead. Lucho, a common nickname for Luis, also means “fight" in Spanish.
Some Bolivians said they believed Gen. Zúñiga's allegations on national TV that the coup attempt was a hoax.
“They are playing with the intelligence of the people, because nobody believes that it was a real coup,” said 48-year-old lawyer Evaristo Mamani.
Lawmakers and former officials also bolstered the allegations. “This has been a setup,” said Carlos Romero, a former official in the Morales government. “Zúñiga followed the script as he was ordered."
Soon after the military action was underway, it became clear that any attempted takeover had no meaningful political support. The rebellion ended bloodlessly by the end of the business day. Arce named a new army commander, who immediately ordered troops to retreat.
“Here we are, firm, in the presidential palace, to confront any coup attempt,” Arce said after facing down Zúñiga. Hundreds of the president's supporters surged into streets surrounding the palace Wednesday night, singing the national anthem and cheering for Arce.
Authorities swiftly arrested Zúñiga as his soldiers retreated from central La Paz.
The U.S. deputy secretary of state for management, Rich Verma, condemned Zuniga's actions and speaking in Paraguay on Thursday noted that “democracy remains fragile in our hemisphere.”
The short-lived mutiny followed months of mounting tensions between Arce and ex-President Morales, Bolivia's first Indigenous president. Morales has staged a dramatic political comeback since mass protests and a deadly crackdown prompted him to resign and flee in 2019 — a military-backed ouster that his supporters decry as a coup.
Morales has vowed to run against Arce in 2025 elections despite a constitutional court ruling that said he was ineligible because he had already served. The possibility of Morales running again has rattled Arce, whose popularity has plunged as the country’s foreign currency reserves dwindle, its natural gas exports plummet and its currency peg to the U.S. dollar collapses.
The cash crunch has ramped up pressure on Arce to scrap food and fuel subsidies that have put a strain on state finances, a combustible move ahead of elections.
Defense Minister Edmundo Novillo said Wednesday's turmoil had its roots in a private meeting Tuesday in which Arce dismissed Zuñiga over the army chief’s threats to arrest Morales if he proceeded to join the 2025 race. Arce has also denied the legitimacy of Morales’ presidential bid.
In their meeting, Zuñiga gave officials no indication he was preparing to seize power, Novillo said.
"He admitted that he had committed some excesses,” he said of Zuñiga. “We said goodbye in the most friendly way, with hugs. Zuñiga said that he would always be at the side of the president.”
Mere hours later, panic gripped the capital of La Paz. Tailed by armored vehicles and supporters, Zuñiga burst into government headquarters and declared the armed forces sought “to restore Bolivia's democracy."
The influx of soldiers sent Bolivians into a frenzy, thronging ATMs, queuing outside gas stations and ransacking grocery stores. By one count, Bolivia has had more than 190 coup attempts and revolutions since its 1825 independence.
The country’s fragmented opposition rejected the coup before it was clear it had failed. Former interim President Jeanine Áñez, detained for her role in Morales’ 2019 ouster, said that soldiers sought to “destroy the constitutional order," but appealed to both Arce and Morales not to run in the 2025 elections.
Santa Cruz Gov. Luis Fernando Camacho, also detained for allegedly orchestrating a coup in 2019, demanded answers from Arce's government on Thursday.
“Was it a media spectacle put on by the government itself, as General Zúñiga says? Was it just some military madness? Was it simply another example of lack of control?” he wrote on social media platform X.
Zúñiga's answer came as a shock, telling reporters that Arce had asked him directly to storm the palace and bring armored vehicles into downtown La Paz.
“The president told me: ‘The situation is very screwed up, very critical. It is necessary to prepare something to raise my popularity,'” Zúñiga alleged the Bolivian leader told him.
Bolivian officials have denied Zúñiga’s claims, insisting the general was lying to justify his actions. Prosecutors said they'd seek the maximum sentence of 15 to 20 years in prison for Zúñiga on charges of “attacking the constitution.”
Political experts struggling to comprehend the reasons behind Wednesday's turmoil.
“This is the weirdest coup attempt I have ever seen,” said Kathryn Ledebur, director of the Andean Information Network, a Bolivia-based research group. “Bolivia’s democracy remains very fragile, and definitely a great deal more fragile today than it was yesterday.”
DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Police guard the government palace the day after a now-ousted Bolivian army chief led some soldiers to storm the building in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, June 27, 2024. The rebellion was short-lived as authorities arrested the general and his soldiers retreated. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A supporter of Bolivian President Luis Arce raises a clenched fist in front of the government palace in Plaza Murillo, in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Arce addressed supporters who gathered in Plaza Murillo, after Wednesday’s apparent failed coup attempt. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Supporters of Bolivian President Luis Arce crowd into Plaza Murillo in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Armored vehicles rammed the doors of Bolivia's government palace located in Plaza Murillo, in an apparent coup attempt on Wednesday against Arce, but he vowed to stand firm and named a new army commander who ordered troops to stand down. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Military police block entry to Plaza Murillo in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Armored vehicles rammed into the doors of government palace located in Plaza Murillo, on Wednesday, as President Luis Arce said the country faced an attempted coup. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Alicia Chura, a supporter of Bolivian President Luis Arce, shouts against Juan Jose Zuniga, a former top Army general who led some soldiers to storm the presidential palace, outside police offices in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, June 27, 2024. The rebellion was short-lived as authorities arrested Zuniga and his soldiers retreated. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Bolivian President Luis Arce raises a clenched fist surrounded by supporters and media, outside the government palace in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Armored vehicles rammed the doors of Bolivia's government palace Wednesday in an apparent coup attempt against Arce, but he vowed to stand firm and named a new army commander who ordered troops to stand down. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
An armored vehicle and military police form outside the government palace at Plaza Murillo in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Armored vehicles rammed into the doors of Bolivia's government palace Wednesday as President Luis Arce said the country faced an attempted coup. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Police guard the government palace the day after a former top Army general led some soldiers to storm the building in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, June 27, 2024. The rebellion was short-lived as authorities arrested the general and his soldiers retreated. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Bolivian police hold the detained Juan Jose Zuniga, former general commander of the Army, in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. An apparent failed coup attempt erupted Wednesday in the country, and Zuniga appeared to be leading the rebellion. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Army Cmdr. Gen. Juan Jose Zuniga sits inside an armored vehicle at Plaza Murillo in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Armored vehicles rammed into the doors of Bolivia's government palace Wednesday as President Luis Arce said the country faced an attempted coup. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Supporters of Bolivian President Luis Arce protest against Juan Jose Zuniga, a former top Army general who led some soldiers to storm the presidential palace, outside police offices in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, June 27, 2024. The signs read in Spanish, left, "No to the coup. Respect democracy!" and "Yes to democracy! Jail the coup plotters." Authorities arrested Zuniga and his soldiers retreated the previous day. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
