Former HGTV star Todd Chrisley is trading in flipping houses on television for some prison time instead. The 58-year-old reality television personality was sentenced to four years in prison for committing several fraudulent schemes.
Chrisley, who starred in the first and only season of HGTV’S ‘Chrisley Knows Best,’ which aired in 2013 and saw six teams of real estate experts compete against each other through various renovation challenges, was first indicted in November 2019 after an investigation from the District Attorney. In addition to his four-year prison sentence, Chrisley was ordered to pay back restitution of $9,402,678.43 and serve 10 years on probation.
A press release from the County of Santa Clara’s Office of the District Attorney detailed how through the HGTV show, Chrisley ‘spent millions on over budget remodels, laundered profits, and pocketed millions in fraudulently obtained money.’ He was also involved in a Ponzi scheme before he starred in the show, the press release further reads.
Chrisley’s victims were in attendance at the April 16 hearing when he was sentenced, and several shared that they were financially ruined by his fraudulent schemes. In one instance, Chrisley made a Ponzi scheme by ‘taking an investor’s money budgeted to buy homes,’ and instead spent the money ‘lavishly’ for his own personal gain. Another one of his investors had given $250,000 to remodel a home, and upon touring it, ‘found it to be a burnt down shell with no work done on it.’ In order to conceal the schemes, Chrisley committed more fraud by creating false balance sheets and obtaining loans based on false information.
