Former reality TV star Todd Chrisley, who was convicted alongside his wife Julie Chrisley of tax evasion and bank fraud in June 2022, claims he’s been prevented from attending church services as he continues to serve a 12-year sentence behind bars in Florida.
Chrisley, a 54-year-old real estate tycoon who rose to fame with his family on the USA Network show “Chrisley Knows Best,” told NewsNation in an interview that the Federal Prison Camp Pensacola has refused to allow him to attend services and to speak with his wife Julie, who was sentenced to seven years in a Kentucky prison. He claims he’s being mistreated and targeted. Chrisley told the outlet he believes the restrictions are the prison’s way of retaliating at him for his previous participation in public interviews with NewsNation about the conditions he and others are being held in at the Pensacola facility.
Chrisley claimed that the warden stopped the prison’s church services because he planned to do another NewsNation interview. Since then, he claims he hasn’t had the chance to attend religious services. He further asserts that on two different occasions, priests were interrupted during the middle of services and asked to leave the prison facility’s premises. Chrisley told NewsNation, “That was their way of trying to intimidate me. I just walked out and said, ‘It ain’t going to change what I’m going to say.’”
Regarding requests to speak with his wife, Chrisley says the warden “denied it within 15 minutes of getting the request,” adding that he has not spoken with his wife since arriving in Pensacola. He said, “[The warden] does not talk to me. The warden does not come around me. She does not speak to me.” Chrisley alleges the warden told other prison staff to stand firm when associating with him.
The former TV star told the outlet, “[The Warden said], ‘unless you are afraid of doing your job, you call [Chrisley] in, you write him up, you sanction him. I want him sanctioned.’” A spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons says it “does not comment on the conditions of confinement for any individual in custody” but stressed that “Humane treatment of the men and women in our custody is a top priority.” BOP spokesperson Benjamin O’Cone told NewsNation, “It is the mission of the Federal Bureau of Prisons to operate facilities that are safe, secure and humane.”
He continued, “We take seriously our duty to protect the individuals entrusted in our custody, as well as maintaining the safety of our employees and the community.” BOP guidelines state that “inmates of all faith groups” are provided “reasonable and equitable opportunities to pursue religious beliefs and practices, within the constraints of budgetary limitations and consistent with the security and orderly running of the institution and the Bureau of Prisons.”
Todd Chrisley claimed the prison does not have a doctor or dental hygienist on staff because they “resigned and left” because they knew “they were falsifying medical records.” The ex-TV star said he has high hopes that a release may come sooner rather than later as there are reports his wife’s sentence may be shortened. “God is going to take me out of here,” Chrisley told NewsNation. “God knew when I was coming in here, and he knows when I am going out.