- Todd and Julie Chrisley portrayed themselves as real estate tycoons. They traded their luxurious lifestyle for prison time in January 2023.
- Netflix ‘Cheer’ star Jerry Harris traveled in 2019 from Dallas to Orlando to engage in sexually explicit conduct with a 15-year-old boy. He was sentenced to 12 years.
- Like Julie Chrisley, Harris is serving his sentence at FMC Lexington in Kentucky, an administrative security federal medical center with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp.
From reality TV to prison life: The couple known for “Chrisley Knows Best,” currently serving time for tax evasion, will get an early release − and they’re not the only reality TV stars with a reduced sentence.
A former cheer coach who gained international fame for a Netflix docuseries also will be released early from prison. Here’s what we know about Julie and Todd Chrisley, Jerry Harris of “Cheer” and other celebrities that have had reduced prison sentences.
Julie and Todd Chrisley from ‘Chrisley Knows Best’ in prison for tax evasion
It’s been almost a year since Julie and Todd Chrisley began their prison sentences for bank fraud. But instead of the respective seven- and 12-year sentences, each has had their prison time slightly reduced.
The Chrisleys, who portrayed themselves as real estate tycoons, gained fame with their USA Network reality show “Chrisley Knows Best,” which followed their tight-knit, boisterous family and the Chrisleys’ lavish lifestyle in Atlanta and Nashville. The show drew in more than 2 million viewers by its eighth season and inspired spin-offs such as “Growing Up Chrisley” and “According to Chrisley.”
The Chrisleys traded their luxurious lifestyle for prison time in January 2023. Prosecutors said the reality TV couple was driven by greed as they engaged in an extensive bank fraud scheme and then hid their wealth from tax authorities.
Julie Chrisley, 50, is serving her prison sentence at the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, an “administrative security federal medical center with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp,” the prison’s website says. According to a Federal Bureau of Prisons records search, Julie Chrisley’s prison release date is Sept. 4, 2028. Her sentence was reduced by 15 months.
Her 55-year-old husband Todd Chrisley is serving time at FPC Pensacola, described on its site as a “minimum security federal prison camp.” A check on the Federal Bureau of Prisons shows Todd Chrisley will be released Dec. 8, 2032.
Tree-filled park, minimum security:Pensacola Federal Prison Camp, home of Todd Chrisley, deemed 2nd cushiest U.S. prison
Jerry Harris of Netflix series ‘Cheer’
In 2020, Jerry Harris of Naperville, Illinois, gained fame for the Netflix docuseries “Cheer.” That same year, the competitive cheerleading coach was featured on “The Ellen Degeneres Show” and attended Vanity Fair’s Oscar party.
In September 2020, authorities charged Harris with producing child pornography. According to USA TODAY, federal court records show Harris admitted he solicited and received explicit messages on Snapchat from at least 10 to 15 individuals he knew were minors; had sex with a 15-year-old boy at a cheerleading competition in 2019; and paid a 17-year-old money in exchange for nude photos.
Harris’ conviction marked a stunning fall for the former star who captivated fans when he appeared in “Cheer.” His arrest in September 2020 sparked a reckoning in the world of competitive cheerleading, prompting others to share their own accounts of abuse and pressuring the sport’s governing body to institute reforms.
Season two of the hit Netflix show addressed Harris’ downfall.
Harris pleaded guilty in February 2022 to charges of child pornography and traveling to engage in sexual conduct with a minor. Harris, then 22, pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, according to the Department of Justice. The child pornography charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and a maximum of 20 years, while the travel charge is punishable by up to 30 years.
A Department of Justice release states the child pornography charge involved sexually explicit photographs and videos that Harris repeatedly requested from a 17-year-old boy in 2020. Harris admitted in a plea agreement that the boy sent the photos and videos of himself to Harris in exchange for $2,000. Harris also admitted in the plea agreement that he requested and received other images of child pornography from two other minor boys, and he attempted to entice one of them to engage in sexual activity.
The travel charge, the DOJ states, pertained to Harris traveling in 2019 from Dallas, Texas, to Orlando to engage in sexually explicit conduct with a 15-year-old boy. Harris admitted in the plea agreement that he directed the boy to meet him in a public bathroom, where Harris sexually assaulted him.
In July 2022, Harris was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for soliciting sex from minors and pressuring young boys to send him nude photos and videos. The prison sentence would be followed by eight years of court-supervised release, according to the Department of Justice.
Like Julie Chrisley (see above), Harris is serving his sentence at FMC Lexington in Kentucky, an administrative security federal medical center with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp. According to a Federal Bureau of Prisons records search, Jerry Harris’ prison release date is Jan. 18, 2031. He was sentenced in 2022; his 12-year sentence would have ended in 2034.
Jen Shah of ‘Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’
On Jan. 6, 2023, Jen Shah, one of the stars of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” on Bravo, was sentenced to 6½ years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing.
Her arrest was partially captured by Bravo’s cameras.
Judge Sidney H. Stein ruled the Bravo celebrity would spend 78 months behind bars, despite prosecutors’ suggested sentence of 120 months, for fraud conspiracy after she admitted to participating in a nationwide telemarketing scheme in addition to five years of supervision after her release. Shah also agreed to forfeit $6.5 million and to pay $9.5 million in restitution as part of her plea agreement.
According to a Jan. 6, 2023, release from the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “With today’s sentence, Jennifer Shah finally faces the consequences of the many years she spent targeting vulnerable, elderly victims. These individuals were lured in by false promises of financial security, but in reality, Shah and her co-conspirators defrauded them out of their savings and left them with nothing to show for it. This conviction and sentence demonstrate once again that we will continue to vigorously protect victims of financial fraud and hold accountable those who engage in fraudulent schemes.”
Court records show from 2012 to March 2021, when Shah was arrested, that the “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star was “an integral leader of a wide-ranging, nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme that victimized thousands of innocent people. The scheme principally involved selling those victims so-called ‘business services’ in connection with the victims’ purported online businesses (the ‘Business Opportunity Scheme’),” the DOJ site states, adding many of Shah’s victims were elderly or vulnerable.
Shah was ordered to begin her sentence Feb. 17, 2023, at FPC Bryan in Texas, a minimum security federal prison camp. According to a Federal Bureau of Prisons records search, Jen Shah’s prison release date is May 17, 2028, five years after she reported to prison.
‘I intend to pay every red cent.’“Real Housewives” star Jen Shah sentenced for telemarketing scheme
Joe and Teresa Giudice of ‘Real Housewives of New Jersey’
Teresa Giudice, star of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” and her then-husband Joe Giudice, fellow RHONJ star, were sentenced to conspiracy and bankruptcy fraud charges.
In 2014, Teresa Giudice started her prison sentence for fraud and was released in December 2015. She served for 11 months; her original sentence was 15 months.
In 2016, Joe Giudice started his 41-month prison sentence before being deported to Italy.
The couple divorced in 2020, and Teresa Giudice, who has since appeared on a “Real Housewives” spinoff (“The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip”), “Celebrity Apprentice” and “Dancing With the Stars,” remarried in 2022.
Abby Lee Miller of ‘Dance Moms’
For eight seasons, Lifetime viewers watched dance coach Abby Lee Miller in the hit series “Dance Moms.” The founder of the Abby Lee Dance Company spent eight months in prison after she pleaded guilty to felony bankruptcy fraud.
Miller pleaded guilty in federal court in Pittsburgh in 2016 to charges of bankruptcy fraud and bringing $120,000 worth of Australian currency into the country without reporting it.
In 2017, Miller was sentenced to serve one year and one day. She served time at Victorville Federal Correctional Institution in California and was transferred to a halfway house in Long Beach, California. She was released after 10 months of incarceration in May 2018, a month after she was diagnosed with a form of lymphoma cancer.
Miller’s show inspired three spin-offs including “Dance Moms: Miami.” In 2020, plans to air a show on Lifetime, “Abby’s Virtual Dance Off,” was nixed amid racism accusations.
Contributing: Christopher Cann, Marisa Kwiatkowski and Tricia L. Nadolny, USA TODAY
Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network-Florida. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.
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