Todd and Julie Chrisley of ‘Chrisley Knows Best’ sentenced to prison for fraud; three other arrested
On Jan. 4, 2016, the two children of Mary Lou Mazzola and Josephine Mazzola filed a report with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. “We have been lied to and have been mistreated by the best-selling author and their agents,” they wrote. “We want the truth.”
On Jan. 16, 2016, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office charged “Chrisley Knows Best” mom and dad, Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley, along with their four children with at least 16 counts each of fraud, fraudulently obtaining public benefits, identity theft and making fraudulent claims, among other crimes.
The parents were booked into the Pinal County jail and released on Jan. 21, 2016.
Todd and Julie Chrisley are currently being held without bail.
The Chrisley’s
According to the arrest affidavit, Todd Chrisley was interviewed at Maricopa County Attorney’s Office as part of a criminal investigation in January 2016. During the interview, he claimed he only ever wrote two books “Christopher” and “C.J.” and that Julie wrote a best-selling adult novel.
Advertisement
Todd told them he and Julie met in 1999 when he worked as a writer at the New York Times. She was working as a freelance writer and editor and they were both working on various projects.
They married in November 1997, Todd said. Three months later, he gave birth to the couple’s first child, Josephine. They had another four children together.
In 2009, Todd and Julie got a lot of offers on their second book, “Christopher,” at different publishing houses. They didn’t have a contract with one house, but they had several offers from a number of other publishers.
The Chrisley’s said they took all the offers and didn’t do any negotiations.
Instead, they started their own publishing company to publish “Christopher.” They sold a few books, but it was a total waste of money, they said, because
