Chrisley Knows Best stars Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley hoped to spend Thanksgiving in the Cayman Islands, but the plans will have to be canceled. A judge denied their request to head to the Caribbean islands due to their ongoing federal tax evasion case. The couple’s current bond release agreement only allows them to travel within Georgia and Tennessee, and to California under specific guidelines.
On Wednesday afternoon, TMZ reported the judge in the case denied the Chrisleys the chance to go to the Cayman Islands. As the court order points out, they already turned over their passports and travel outside the U.S. should only be allowed under “extraordinary circumstances.” Heading to a tropical retreat for Thanksgiving does not qualify, according to the judge.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“A standard condition of pretrial release is that a defendant surrender to the U.S. Probation Office his or her passport and any other travel documents with the understanding that, while federal felony charges are pending, travel outside of the U.S. is prohibited, especially in the absence of extraordinary circumstances,” Georgia District Court Judge Janet F. King wrote in her court order, reports Radar Online. “The condition is set to ensure that a defendant remains within the authority of the court to secure his or her appearance throughout the pendency of the charges. Travel outside the U.S. places a defendant beyond that authority.”
King added, “The request to travel outside of the U.S. presented by Defendants simply does not present extraordinary circumstances.”
Earlier this week, the Chrisleys asked the court to return their passports so they could visit the Caymans from Nov. 23 to Nov. 29 and promised to return the passports to Pretrial Services on Dec. 2. They also promised to travel on a commercial airline and stay at a resort condominium.
Back in August, Todd and Julie Chrisley were charged with 12 counts of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Prosecutors said in the indictment that the Chrisleys did not file federal tax returns of pay income taxes for 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.
The Chrisleys also faced state tax evasion charges in Georgia, which accused them of not paying $2 million in taxes between 2008 and 2016. However, the couple reached a settlement after the state discovered they really only owed $77,000 from one incorrect filing.
Meanwhile, Chrisley has an ongoing lawsuit against Joshua Waites, the Director of the Georgia Department of Revenue’s Office of Special Investigation. He has accused Waites of building a relationship with his estranged daughter, Lindsie Chrisley, in order to get more information on the Chrisleys.
In the past week, Chrisley has shared photos of documents on Instagram, which he believes exposes wrongdoing by Waites.
“Good evening, I literally continue to be amazed at how awesome God is, when this nightmare of lies and deceit started with The Georgia Dept Of Revenue, The Chief of Police for the GDOR Joshua Karl Waites he lied about us and so many other taxpayers in the state of Georgia,” Chrisley wrote on Nov. 5. “He’s bullied, threatened and intimidated, he’s tried to humiliate and shame hard working people, rule with fear, take people’s civil liberties as well as their property and doing this with The Georgia Dept Of Revenue having knowledge of some these situations, This man was hired to be the chief of police for the GDOR while having a criminal arrest for assaulting a police officer and having a DUI, yet he’s given a badge to destroy lives of folks that have done far less than he’s done.”
“WHY is the man still employed with The State of Georgia?” Chrisley continued. “Why am I being told to STOP posting his personal history? It’s public record and what Joshua Karl Waites has done to my family and others should be brought to light , he should be removed from his position and charged for the crimes he’s committed, I will Continue to post weekly as new information continues to pour in.”
Photo credit: Getty Images
