Jailed Jersey Shore star breaks silence on Todd and Julie Chrisley's prison release after Trump pardon
Jersey Shore star Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino has broken his silence on Todd and Chrisley's Trump pardons - six years after he was also jailed for tax evasion.
Sorrentino and his brother pleaded guilty to tax offenses related to nearly $9 million in income in 2018. Marc Sorrentino was sentenced to two years while the TV star served eight months.
The TV personality revealed he has no sour grapes over the Chrisleys getting a pardon after he was forced to serve his entire sentence.
He told TMZ: 'I can definitely relate to some of this story as I've spent eight months in prison for tax evasion. I also got two years of probation, 500 hours of community service and I completed everything including restitution.
'For them to get released early, for me, that is good for the families. I am not sure that anyone who hasn't been in these shoes can really relate. I can definitely see there might be a little bit of outrage. But for me — someone who actually did prison time — I am not mad at it.
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'I wouldn't go back and get a pardon because it made me a better man. [Still], you gotta stay in your own lane and run your own race. When you get sent away to prison, it is not a good situation for yourself but the families. They get sent away as well to a certain extent and it is so very sad.'
At the time of his release in 2019: 'Sorrentino told DailyMail.com: 'We are elated to finally close this chapter of our life. Thank you to our family, friends and fans for the continuous love and support during this time, it brought us so much peace and comfort.
'We look forward to continuing our life as husband and wife and working on baby situations!'
'We truly believe that the comeback is ALWAYS greater than the setback and we can't wait to show the world ours.'
He later tweeted: 'Turn up we free !!! #freesitch.'
Early Wednesday evening, Todd was released from Federal Prison Camp Pensacola while Julie was set free from FMC Lexington, according to Fox5.
The pair's elated daughter Savannah, 27, spoke to the press outside his Florida prison after campaigning for years for their release.
While dressed in bright pink 'MAGA Barbie' attire, she lauded President Trump, who personally called her on Tuesday to inform her of his decision to give her parents 'a full, unconditional pardon.'
After a nearly three-week jury trial, Todd and Julie were convicted in June 2022 of conspiring to defraud banks in the Atlanta, Georgia area out of more than $30 million in personal loans by submitting false documents.
They were also found guilty of wire fraud and tax evasion, obscuring their earnings while showcasing a luxurious lifestyle with expensive cars and designer clothes.
Wearing a hot pink MAGA hat, Savannah said she is 'so grateful that I'm going to leave here with my dad' after an 'insane' three years of her trying to get him and Julie freed.
She confirmed that her brother Grayson Chrisley would be the one picking up their mother from her Kentucky prison facility.
'President Trump signed the pardons at around 3pm this afternoon and it's all due to President Trump, Alice Johnson, Ed Martin, all of them,' she told the crowd.
'They have truly just shown up and looked at [Todd and Julie's] case with a fine-tooth comb and they've seen the corruption.'
After her call with Trump, Savannah said she arrived at her dad's prison in Pensacola at 2 in the morning on Wednesday and has been waiting there since.
'I have not gone to sleep. I did not bring any clothes with me. I did not bring a toothbrush with me. I brought absolutely nothing with me,' she revealed with a laugh.
'I'm just a daughter that wants to take my dad home with me.'
When asked what Todd and Julie's reactions were to Trump's pardon, Savannah said that he was initially in total disbelief.
'They didn't believe it. [The pardon] literally came out of nowhere. As I said before, I was walking into the grocery store when I got the call from the president,' she explained.
'I was just in such shock and such awe that the president himself called me and took the time to let me know that my family's coming back together.'
Savannah said that her and Trump's entire correspondence was captured 'on video' and that he had called to let her know that he was 'reuniting [her] family.'
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