Hours afterToddand Julie Chrisleyturned themselves inforindictmentsof tax evasion, wire fraud and conspiracy bank fraud, theChrisley Knows Beststarspleaded not guiltyon Wednesday.
But although the couple is maintaining their innocence in their case, they could potentially face prison time if convicted of the alleged crimes, tax attorney Dawn Delia tells PEOPLE.
“This whole tax situation could have just gone through the IRS,” says Delia who is not involved in the case or familiar with the facts beyond what the indictment alleges. “It didn’t have to go to court, but when the IRS revenue officer couldn’t collect on the tax debt due and found suspicious activity, it got moved on to criminal prosecution. It also didn’t help that it was a high-dollar case. According to the indictment,” she speculated, “it looks like they moved assets, they didn’t report income, they hid income, they did a lot of different things.”
Delia explains that if the case does go “to trial and the jury rules in favor of the government, the IRS can grab everything that they have to fulfill the debt.”
“Also, the federal government can look to their companies and attach their properties in the amount that they owe as well,” she adds.
“In addition, they’re facing criminal charges of tax evasion,” she states. “On the IRS and the tax side of this, according to the indictment, there are a lot of things that they did to evade. The IRS moves it from administrative to criminal when it’s a very serious case. Very few get moved on to this. With that, you have this indictment.”
She says “if it does come out that the jury agrees,” Todd and Julie could “could face up to five years in prison for tax evasion. But, I believe with all these counts it can be more.”
While Delia says it could be years until there is a conclusion in the case, the IRS will continue sending them collection letters.
“We stand in our faith, and we stand in what we know is right. We are fortunate to have the counsel that we have and our family will stick together, and we’ll walk this road because we know that the good Lord will hold our hand and take us through,” Todd told local reporters.
In a statement to PEOPLE on Wednesday, Morris and Friedberg said, “For quite some time now, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia has been conducting an investigation of Todd and Julie Chrisley based for the most part on the demonstrably false allegations of a former officer of a company they owned jointly. We saw the results of this effort yesterday — an indictment against Todd, Julie, and their accountant that relies largely if not entirely on emails that we know Todd never sent but rather were fabricated …”
Todd and Julie Chrisley.Dennis Leupold/USA Network/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty
On Thursday, Todd shared an uplifting statement on Instagram and said that despite the family drama,Chrisley Knows Besthas not been canceled.
“Trust and believe that we are holding the right hand of God on this walk we are on, if he brings us to it he will bring us through it. Please don’t fall victim to false prophets , don’t give attention to the attention seekers , stay steady on your course , grieve the loss of ones you love that didn’t love you , pray for them even though they have wronged you , forgive them for yourself and ask God to move them on. We are getting back to work after this distraction and our show hasn’t been cancelled,” he wrote.
“God delivered much clarity yesterday as to those who set a net for us , so the Lord says ‘May the net your enemies cast for you be the same net they become snared in .. To each and everyone that has supported us on this journey we call life , we love you with all of our hearts , the kindness we have been shown yesterday and through this process has been overwhelming , God is good , we drop our hands and surrender to God and will let God do the rest , you can’t claim FAITH and still express FEAR,” said Todd.
source: people.com
