Savannah and Chase Chrisley say parents Todd and Julie are facing 'nightmare,' 'insane' prison conditions
The siblings also gave an update on their parents' legal counsel and general outlook.
Since former reality star Todd Chrisley and wife Julie went to prison, daughter Savannah Chrisley has regularly offered updates on them via her podcast, Unlocked With Savannah Chrisley. She did it again Tuesday.
On an episode titled "The Chrisley Siblings Update," the guest was her older brother Chase. The siblings had a candid conversation in which they addressed many things, beginning with the conditions of the two facilities where, since January, their parents have served time for bank fraud and tax evasion.
They gave several updates:
The Chrisleys are allegedly facing 'nightmare' conditions in prison.
While the YouTube photo for the podcast showed them smiling, much of the content was anything but happy. The fraught subject of their parents' situation came up quickly, after Savannah mentioned that Chase recently went to visit their dad, who's serving time at Florida's Federal Correctional Institution Pensacola.
"You got to hear about the cluster of everything going on at his facility," she said.
Both agreed, "It's a nightmare."
Chase noted that neither Todd nor Julie, who's at Kentucky's Federal Medical Center Lexington, have air-conditioning, although both now live in states with high temperatures.
Julie also has poisonous snakes "just casually slithering on the floor in front of her," Savannah said. "She just had snakes literally right there where her bed is."
"I don't care if you've killed somebody," Chase said. "If you're in a government facility, you should have air-conditioning. That's just ridiculous."
Savannah added, "I mean, air-conditioning is the least of it, whenever you've got black mold, asbestos, lead-based paint, snakes..."
She said "there are some things that are gonna come to light that are disgusting. It will leave people speechless about the things that go on in these facilities."
In a statement, a rep for the Federal Bureau of Prisons tells Yahoo Entertainment that the bureau does not comment on anecdotal allegations for privacy, safety and security reasons. However, "We can assure you all AICs (adults in custody) have unlimited access to drinking water and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is monitoring the ventilation at the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Pensacola and the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Lexington, as one of our highest priorities is the safety of BOP employees and AICs. Every BOP facility, including FPC Pensacola and FMC Lexington have contingency plans to address a large range of concerns or incidents, including ventilation temperatures, and is fully equipped and prepared to implement these plans as necessary. The BOP's contingency plans are sensitive in nature and are not available to the public."
Furthermore, the statement read, prisons are accredited by the American Correctional Association, whose standards address factors such as temperature and air quality.
Todd and Julie have new legal counsel.
Todd and Julie reported to prison in January, about seven months after being convicted of bank fraud and tax evasion in June 2022. Todd was sentenced to 12 years behind bars, while she received seven.
While the former Chrisley Knows Best stars were found to have underpaid their taxes for years and to have falsely inflated their net worth in order to secure $30 million in loans, they have always maintained their innocence.
Savannah explained that Todd and Julie have new legal counsel in their cases, in which she alleged the government had an unfair advantage and was not playing by the rules. Savannah noted that her parents have filed appeals, and she posted links to the court documents in the podcast description.
Chase said the new legal representation is of the opinion that the Chrisleys were "f***ed from the moment we walked in there."
Then, Savannah read off of her phone a six-page letter that she plans to send to all U.S. Senators that "points out a lot of things that really went wrong in our case." In it, she asked lawmakers to contact her so that she can give them evidence of "government overreach."
"After going through what we've gone through," Savannah said, "it's so sad, because it puts a bad taste in our mouth about the country that we live in."
Tabloid rumors are false.
Still, Savannah and Chase said their parents are doing OK, considering what they're going through.
"Luckily they have the fight in them," she said.
Chase commented that the two are "strong, and they have remained loyal to each other."
"They're doing as good as they can," he added.
Savannah slammed rumors that have circulated about Todd and Julie.
"These tabloid stories that come out that I find to be laughable, that come out that say, they're just, ya know, falling apart, they have no faith, they... ya know, feel so guilty for what they've done," she said. "All of that is bulls***. That's all a complete lie."