Todd and Julie Chrisley's New Attorney Gives Update on Couple's Appeal Process — and What's to Come

The couple began appealing their case a month before reporting to prison to serve a combined 19-year sentence for fraud

Todd and Julie Chrisley are continuing the fight over their conviction for financial crimes — and now, their new attorney is sharing how the process has progressed.

Jay Surgent, a Partner at Weiner Law Group LLP who specializes in white-collar crime, exclusively tells PEOPLE that they “don’t know yet” what’s to come but they “did our final filings” again last week. However, he explains what could potentially occur amid the couple’s ongoing appeals process.

“The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals can reverse the District Court, or they could remand the case back for hearings that should have been held that were not held during the course of this trial,” says Surgent. “We argued very vigorously that their constitutional rights have been violated, and that they basically were not given a fair hearing. It’s all in black and white, actually.”

Todd Chrisley’s Home Confinement Case Is Being ‘Investigated Internally’ After Being ‘Rejected’ (Exclusive)

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Todd, 54, and Julie, 50, were sentenced in November 2022 to a combined 19 years in prison for fraud. Though they began appealing their case that December, the Chrisley Knows Best alums reported to prison in January.

Surgent claims the longtime couple — who wed in 1996 — are “living in squalor in 100-degree temperatures because of what the governor has decided to do to them.”

“Their living conditions — both of them, he in Pensacola, she in Lexington, Kentucky — it’s an absolutely ridiculous situation,” he alleges.

Savannah Chrisley Says Family Hired New Counsel to Appeal Parents’ Case: ‘Doing Everything We Possibly Can’

The alleged extreme conditions Todd is facing in his Florida facility led to him submitting an application for home confinement. But in the aftermath of his application being rejected, his case is being investigated internally.

“Not that we’re saying that they deserve special treatment because they’re celebrities. They don’t,” he continues. “What we’re saying is that they, along with other inmates, deserve better treatment. We shouldn’t be treating our prisoners the way we’re treating our prisoners at this point in time.”

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Upon confirming last week that the family hired new legal counsel, Todd and Julie’s daughter Savannah Chrisley said on her Unlocked podcast that they’re “doing everything that we possibly can to fight this appeal.” 

“I don’t care if I have to take this to the Supreme Court,” she added. “There is no quitting that’s happening. We have a great team of people behind us that I’m so blessed and grateful for.”

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