Todd Chrisley has been accused of slander and defamation of a tax investigator. The Chrisley Knows Best star, currently serving a 10-year prison sentence for fraud, is now being ordered to pay six figures.
After Todd Chrisley and his wife, Julie, were sent to prison in January 2023, he has been doing all he can to appeal his sentence and help improve prison conditions. Now, he’s being ordered to pay $733K.
Todd Chrisley charged with slander
Todd Chrisley has been ordered to pay Georgia investigator Amy Doherty-Heinze $755K in compensatory and punitive damages and legal fees, according to legal documents reviewed by The Times.
Doherty-Heinze first sued Chrisley on July 9, 2021, alleging he accused her of “a multitude of crimes and wrongdoing” starting in 2020, documents say. It also alleged he “repeated false accusations” about her.
Two months after the lawsuit came down, Chrisley tried to get the case thrown out, but Doherty-Heinze alleged he continued to “defame” her in a September 2021 episode of the Chrisley Confessions podcast.
According to the documents, Chrisley names Doherty-Heinze in his podcast and accuses her of corruption and of “illegally accessing” a government program to pull information on the reality TV family.
Doherty-Heinze filed the lawsuit four years after the Georgia Department of Revenue began investigating Todd and Julie Chrisley in 2017, they said.
She alleged in 2020, Chrisley “began a social media campaign against the GDOR and certain of its employees, contending the investigation was illegal and improperly motivated”.
‘Made over 20 defamatory statements’
An eight-person Georgia jury on Thursday found Chrisley, 55, liable for two claims of libel and slander but not liable on a third claim of slander. Doherty-Heinze was awarded $350,000 in compensatory damages.
The tax investigator also received $170,000 in punitive damages, and $235,000 in attorney fees from Chrisley. She alleges he made more than 20 defamatory statements about her.
The defamatory statements include that she destroyed evidence, illegally utilized the Georgia Crime Information Center in an investigation, and vacationed at Walt Disney World using taxpayer money.
Chrisley is serving a 10-year sentence after being convicted of bank fraud and tax evasion. He testified remotely from prison during the weeklong trial.
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