Chase Chrisley addresses parents' prison sentencing for the 1st time

Nearly a month after a federal judge sentenced his parents, Todd and Julie Chrisley, to a combined 19 years in prison, Chase Chrisley is voicing his feelings.

In a recent conversation with his sister Savannah Chrisley for her podcast “Unlocked,” the 26-year-old television personality addressed his silence in the aftermath of his parents’ sentencing, stating, “I think that I don’t owe anybody an explanation.”

“I don’t need to explain how I feel to anybody other than the people that I care about and that I love,” he said. “Obviously, what we have been going through is hell. It is a terrible, terrible situation. But I have to try and find the good, even in the darkest time," he continued.

Chase and his family came to the fore for the first time in 2014 while starring in the USA reality series “Chrisley Knows Best,” which followed the family and their real estate business. In 2019, Chase and his sister Savannah led the spin-off series “Growing Up Chrisley.”

USA is owned by NBCUniversal, TODAY’s parent company.

Both series were scrapped after Todd and Julie Chrisley were found guilty of fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud the United States by a federal jury in Atlanta in June.

Julie was sentenced to seven years in prison, while Todd was sentenced to 12 years of prison time. They plan to appeal their sentences.

According to documents obtained by NBC News, the couple has been ordered to report to prisons in Florida on Jan. 17. Todd will serve time at Federal Prison Camp Pensacola, while Julie Chrisley will serve time at Federal Correctional Institution Marianna.

“I feel like throughout everything that we have been going through, it has made me appreciate things I did not appreciate as much in the past. It’s made me do a lot of reflecting and just kind of figuring out who I am now as a man and who I wanna be in 10 years, and then 10 years from there and 10 years from there,” Chase said.

Chase went on to explain on the podcast that his focus is currently on ensuring stability in his relationship with his fiancée Emmy Medders and his family.

“I have to make sure that I’m good, so I can be good for Emmy. I have to make sure Emmy’s good. I have to make sure my family is good emotionally and that I am in a place emotionally where I can be there for my loved ones,” he said, adding, “So that’s why I haven’t really said anything on Instagram or anything like that because I feel like I’ve been doing the work behind the scenes. And that’s going to pay off, and I’ll just let my actions speak for what needs to be said.”

In the first episode of the podcast “Chrisley Confessions" published after the sentencing, Julie and Tod addressed the topic of anxiety, but did not speak directly about the sentencing.

“Worry is not from God but it’s something that I do all the time,” Julie said.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com