Julie Chrisley Says Fame Led to ‘Overwhelming’ 1st Few Days in Prison

Julie Chrisley’s prison stay was way different than what her husband, Todd Chrisley, experienced.

While Todd, 56, said he was incarcerated in a “busted, broke little summer camp,” their daughter Savannah Chrisley noted that Julie’s prison was on the “scary” side.

“I was [in] a satellite camp off of a federal medical center, which housed all custody levels,” Julie, 52, explained during the Tuesday, July 1, episode of Savannah’s “Unlocked” podcast. “So, there was the fence and the razor wire and the security there. Where I was in particular there wasn’t, but it was right next door to it.”

Both Todd and Julie reported to prison in January 2023 after being convicted on federal tax evasion and fraud charges the prior year. While Todd was housed in FPC Pensacola in Florida, Julie reported to the Federal Medical Center Lexington in Kentucky. They were pardoned by President Donald Trump and released from prison in May.

Julie told Savannah, 27, that she “was scared” of going into prison because she “didn’t know what to expect.” Once inside, Julie recalled the other inmates knowing who she was.

The first woman she encountered in the prison transport van told Julie she was going to “hate” life behind bars.

“I walked in the door and then I was just bombarded,” Julie recalled. “I walk in the door, there was someone there to show me where to go. I didn’t know at the time, but a girl got me to the room, got me a bed — a nice bed, actually — she ended up being my bunkie later on.”

She added, “It was very overwhelming because people kept coming in, and because I was new, and people knew who I was. It was really overwhelming for the first few days for me.”

Julie said there were “lots of arguments” in her prison, but Todd said he didn’t have that experience. However, she didn’t have any personal problems while behind bars.

“Because you was up there being Miss Pollyanna, ‘Yes ma’am. Yes ma’am,’” Todd said of his wife.

Savannah did recall one instance where a cafeteria worker allegedly locked Julie in the cafeteria.

“Here’s the thing, only your mother would get locked in a cafeteria. Nobody else does dumb s*** like that. I never even went in our cafeteria,” Todd said. Savannah replied, “He did it on purpose.”

Julie, meanwhile, chimed in and said the employee was “just a miserable human being.”

“They all are,” Todd added. “I was surrounded by miserable human beings, and every day I got up and it was my sole intent to make their life even more miserable because they were there to make our lives miserable.”