Julie Chrisley, convicted of bank fraud and tax evasion, says she never ‘intentionally tried to do anything’ wrong

Julie Chrisley says the legal issues her family is facing has “taken a very big toll” on her.

The “Chrisley Knows Best” star and her husband, Todd Chrisley, were recently sentenced to a combined 19 years of prison for bank fraud and tax evasion.

“I think people love to build people up and they love to see people rise, just to watch them fall,” the Chrisley matriarch said in the Nov. 29 podcast episode of “Unlocked with Savannah Chrisley.”

The conversation between Julie and her daughter, Savannah, was recorded “right before the family faced one of their hardest days yet,” per the show’s description.

The mother-daughter duo began by talking about their recent family issues, including Todd and Julie Chrisley’s 16-year-old son Grayson's car crash, which left him hospitalized.

“With all the legal stuff y’all got going on, Grayson said, ‘This was the last thing that everyone needed,’” Savannah first said. “And I told him, and dad was like, ‘Grayson, you’re alive. You’re safe. Who cares?’”

Grayson’s accident came over a week before Todd Chrisley was sentenced to 12 years in prison, while Julie Chrisley received a seven-year sentence. However, in the podcast taped before the sentencing Julie Chrisley said she never “intentionally tried to do anything” that she wasn’t supposed to.

“I think about the situation that we’re dealing with right now, and I’m thinking about (how) I’ve never gone out here and hurt a soul,” Julie Chrisley said. “I have never gone out here and intentionally tried to do anything that I wasn’t supposed to do and look where I’m standing right now."

"Like, how’s that?" she added. "I have to believe that God — and your dad said this in our podcast — I believe his exact words were, 'God will break you down just so he can bless you.' And I have to believe that that’s what’s happening because if not, it just makes me so, like, why?"

“Why do I keep doing this? Why does this keep happening? Why did things keep happening?” Julie Chrisley said, before reflecting. “What makes us any better to deal with adversity, to deal with problems, to deal with issues than the family next door or the family down the street or the family in his different zip code? It doesn’t and we have had so many blessings come our way.”

In a press release, U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said that Todd and Julie Chrisley conspired to defraud community banks in the Atlanta area to obtain more than $36 million in personal loans. The reality stars, with the help of their former business partners, submitted false bank statements, audit reports and personal financial statements to Georgia community banks to obtain the loans.

Their accountant, Peter Tarantino, was also sentenced to three years in prison.

The couple was first found guilty of fraud, tax evasion, and conspiracy to defraud the United States by a federal jury in Atlanta in June of 2022.

Julie Chrisley shared how amid their legal troubles they have gotten a lot of support from people who call into her and her husband’s podcast, “Chrisley Confessions,” She explained that the people who are in her corner “are praying for me every day… I wouldn’t take that for granted for anything.”

However, Savannah, recalled her mom “literally having a mental breakdown” and struggling with certain people who haven’t reached out to her amid her circumstances.

While Savannah called it “pretty s---y” that those who she believed were close to her mom hadn’t supported her family, Julie Chrisley noted that perhaps people don’t know what to say or feel awkward about discussing the topic.

But, she also said, “They feel maybe that by reaching out to me they could tarnish themselves or make themselves look bad?”

“Well, listen, that’s on you. Because I know what I’ve done. More importantly, I know what I haven’t done,” Julie Chrisley said.

Amid her parents' trial, Savannah previously said she was ready to take custody of Grayson and 10-year-old niece Chloe.

“I know that the short-term is going to be really painful and really difficult and I may come home without both of my parents,” she said in a separate podcast episode, contemplating celebrating Thanksgiving without her parents.

“I come home Tuesday and I have custody of a 16-year-old and a 10-year-old, and we spend our first Thanksgiving not as a family. I’ve never been away from my family for holidays,” she said.

Following their sentencing, the “Chrisley Knows Best” stars’ family attorney Alex Little and Todd Chrisley's attorney, Bruce Morris, told NBC News that the couple is planning to appeal.

“Yesterday was a difficult day for the Chrisley family. But Todd and Julie are people of faith, and that faith gives them strength as they appeal their convictions,” Little said on Nov. 22. “Their trial was marred by serious and repeated errors, including the government lying to jurors about what taxes the couple paid. Based on these issues, we are optimistic about the road ahead.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com