'Disgustingly filthy': Todd Chrisley claims prison infested with rats, black mold
Reality TV personality Todd Chrisley visit Hallmarks "Home and Family" at Universal Studios Hollywood on June 18, 2018 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/Getty Images)
PENSACOLA, Fla. - Todd Chrisley says he has been dealing with "filthy" conditions and antagonistic staff during his time behind bars at a Florida prison.
It's been nearly a year since the "Christley Knows Best" star reported to Florida's minimum security prison, FPC Pensacola, and Chrisley claims his time in confinement has been rough.
Speaking in a phone interview with reporter Brian Entin on "Cuomo," Chrisley claims that he's not being treated fairly by the prison guards.
"There are recordings of staff members here talking about, 'He needs to be humbled,'" he told Entin, alleging that a staff member said that "He needs to be put in diesel therapy and put him in shackles. Let him ride around the country for a time and then bring him back and that will humble him. He thinks he’s in one of his mansions that he’s used to living in. But this is the f—ing BOP. That’s what he’ll need.’"
Todd and Julie Chrisley's children Savannah and Chase previously claimed that their parents were being kept in "inhumane conditions."
"They both have no air. No air conditioning … They're both in states where it gets 100-plus degrees. And there's no air conditioning," their son Chase alleged on his sister's podcast, "Unlocked with Savannah Chrisley" in July.
In the new interview, Chrisley shared more details about his alleged poor conditions, saying the prison had been infested with rats and mold.
"You’ve got rats, you’ve got squirrels in the storage facility where the food is," he said. "They just covered it up with plastic and then tore the ceiling out because of all the black mold and found a dead cat in the ceiling."
The reality star also claimed the food served to inmates was expired and contaminated.
"It is so disgustingly filthy. The food is literally, I’m not exaggerating — the food is dated - it’s out of date by, at minimum, a year," he said. "It’s a year past expiration. And they are literally starving these men to death here. These men are getting - I don’t know that they are getting a thousand calories a day."
He said instead of eating the food provided, he makes food that he buys from the prison commissary.
"I eat tuna. I eat peanut butter. That's where I get protein," he said. "I eat like a pasta salad that I make. And then I start over doing the same thing next week.
Todd and Julie Chrisley's tax evasion sentence
In 2022, Todd and Julie Chrisley were found guilty of tax evasion and defrauding community banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans.
Prosecutors said the couple neglected their responsibility to repay the loans when Todd Chrisley declared bankruptcy. While in bankruptcy, they started their reality show and "flaunted their wealth and lifestyle to the American public," prosecutors wrote, and then hid the millions they made from the show from the IRS. Julie Chrisley was also convicted of wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
The Chrisleys gained fame with their show "Chrisley Knows Best," which followed their tight-knit family on the USA Network. The couple spent millions on designer-brand clothes, luxury cars and real estate, including two mansions in Nashville, Tennessee, reportedly worth about $9 million.
An Atlanta U.S. District Court judge sentenced Todd Chrisley to 12 years in prison, and Julie Chrisley to seven years. Each is to serve three years of supervised release afterward.
In addition to prison time, the couple has been ordered to immediately pay more than $17 million in restitution to the banks they swindled millions from, according to judgment documents.
Peter Tarantino, an accountant hired by the couple, was found guilty of defrauding the United States and willfully filing false tax returns. He will serve three years in prison.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.