Todd Chrisley broke his silence about being released from prison following a presidential pardon from Donald Trump.
“I want to thank first and foremost my lord and savior because that’s who got me through it,” Todd, 55, said at a press conference on Friday, May 30, before addressing his daughter Savannah Chrisley. “She has fought a long fight and for any parent to see their child fight this hard, it’s a double edged sword. It’s a blessing and then your heart breaks because your child has been placed in that position.”
Todd, who was at the press conference without wife Julie Chrisley, said he would “always be grateful” to Savannah, 27, for her efforts to get them released. (Julie, 52, for her part, remained at home with the couple’s 12-year-old adopted daughter, Chloe.)
“Even though this pardon has happened, I still was convicted of something that I did not do. It could be you. It could be any of you,” Todd noted. He was later asked whether he had any remorse for his fraud case, to which he replied, “I would have remorse if it was something that I did.”
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Todd also confirmed that his family would be making their reality TV return. The Chrisley Knows Best star spoke out about the shocking reversal of fortune in their tax evasion and fraud case after President Trump granted both reality stars clemency on Wednesday, May 29, and they were released from custody later that same day.
Todd and Julie were indicted on tax evasion, bank and wire fraud and conspiracy charges in 2019 and were ultimately found guilty. Todd was sentenced to 12 years in prison while his wife was given seven years behind bars, in addition to the couple being ordered to pay $17.8 million in restitution. The Chrisleys maintained their innocence and continued to appeal their sentences, which were previously reduced in September 2023 by nearly two years.
President Trump announced during an Oval Office call with the couple’s daughter Savannah on May 27 that he planned to grant Todd and Julie a full pardon.
“It’s a terrible thing but it’s a great thing, because your parents are going to be free and clean,” Trump said in a clip shared via X. “I hope we can do it by tomorrow. I don’t know them, but give them my regards. [I] wish them a good life.”
Savannah reacted to the announcement by publicly thanking Trump and his pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson for supporting her two-year effort to free her parents. (Trump named Johnson as the nation’s first pardon czar when he took office in January 2025. He’d previously pardoned Johnson for a first-time, nonviolent drug offense in 2018 due in part to lobbying from Kim Kardashian.)
“For the past two and a half years, I’ve done everything in my power to fight for my parents’ freedom and bring them home,” Savannah, 27, told Us Weekly. “This moment is the answer to countless prayers, and I am beyond grateful to President Trump for seeing the truth and restoring my family.”
She added, “I also want to thank Alice Marie Johnson for her unwavering support and our attorney, Alex Little, for being an essential part of this process. Today is a victory for our family, but the fight against wrongful convictions and injustice within our prison system is far from over.”
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A tearful Savannah was on hand when her father Todd was released from the Federal Prison Camp in Pensacola, Florida on May 28, while Julie was freed from Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky later that day.
“Todd has been released from prison and is on his way home to Nashville,” a family spokesperson told Us shortly after the reality star’s release.
During an interview with a local news station, Savannah said that her parents were excited to belatedly celebrate their 29th wedding anniversary (which was on May 25).
“My parents have not spoken to each other, heard each other’s voices or seen each other in the past two and a half years,” Savannah, 27, told reporters.
She went on, “Their 29th wedding anniversary was May 25, so we’re only a few days out from that. So when they reunite, we’re going to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, Christmases, all the things, because we’re going to make up for lost time.”
