Latest news with #FederalPrison
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Will Trump's former high-society friend Ghislaine Maxwell be the next infamous inmate to be pardoned?
She was famously photographed with Donald Trump at exclusive parties in Manhattan and Mar-a-Lago in her heyday, but can Ghislaine Maxwell 's one-time friend-turned-president now serve as her key to freedom? With TV reality couple Todd and Julie Chrisley's surprise early release this week, speculation is now swirling over whether Trump could pardon another infamous inmate from his high-society orbit next, can reveal. Maxwell is currently serving 20 years in federal prison for being notorious sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein 's enabler. can disclose one ultra-close source to the Maxwell family has not dismissed the hope of a Trump intervention out of hand – following his sensational pardoning of the Chrisleys, who were convicted of federal bank fraud and tax evasion charges in 2022. Maxwell's freedom-campaigning brothers Ian and Kevin Maxwell haven't formally petitioned the president for the ultimate clemency, but her family isn't ruling out the possibility, a close source told exclusively. 'It's not a bad idea to ask President Trump for a pardon. He knew her. He's probably got views about whether she's innocent or guilty,' a member of the Maxwell family's inner circle said. The 'who's next' speculation is running hot following the release of husband-and-wife TV duo Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were jailed for a $30million bank fraud and tax evasion in 2022. They were sprung from prison this week after MAGA-supporter daughter Savannah's passionate Fox TV interview with the president's daughter-in-law Lara Trump. President Trump told 27-year-old Savannah her parents 'don't look like terrorists' and privately conveyed he thought they'd been treated unfairly. In the case of Maxwell – inmate number 02879-509 at the federal women's prison in Tallahassee, Florida – the issue is wrought with more complexity. The British socialite former pal of Prince Andrew lost her appeal in 2024 against five counts related to sex trafficking for helping multi-millionaire financier Epstein abuse underage girls around the world. But in April this year her legal team filed a petition to the US Supreme Court, claiming she was covered by a 2007 non-prosecution agreement for any Epstein co-conspirator. Maxwell, 63, was sentenced in June 2022 after a lengthy New York trial. She was immediately sent to her Florida prison, where has exclusively photographed her pounding around the facility's running track. Brothers Ian, 69, and Kevin, 66, supported her in court and have campaigned tirelessly for her release since her 2021 conviction, proclaiming her innocence and alleging she did not receive a fair hearing. Yet overshadowing every twist and turn in Maxwell's bid for freedom is one word: Epstein. The notorious pedophile who killed himself in a New York jail in 2019 rather than face court for his sickening crimes. And adding to the complexity is the historic Trump connection – to both of them. The disgraced British socialite was previously revealed to have been moved to the facility's 'honor dorm', reserved for the best behaved inmates. Pictured above is one of the single level housing units in the female prison at FCI The Commander in Chief innocently rubbed shoulders with Epstein on the social circuit in Palm Beach and Manhattan in the 1990s and early 2000s. He was photographed with him and one video from 1992 shows them sharing a joke as women danced at the President's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach. President Trump told New York magazine in 2002: 'I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.' However after Epstein's dramatic arrest at Teterboro Airport, New Jersey following a trip to Paris, Trump said at the White House: 'People in Palm Beach knew him, he was a fixture in Palm Beach. 'I had a falling out with him a long time ago. I don't think I've spoken to him for 15 years. I wasn't a fan.' He emphasized he had no idea of Epstein's crimes before his arrest. President Trump and Maxwell were also photographed together as they socialized at events. First Lady Melania appears in at least three shots with them before her 2005 marriage. The most bizarre was taken at supermodel Heidi Klum's 'hookers and pimps' themed Halloween party in October 2000. It shows President Trump with his arms around a smiling Melania and Maxwell, who is dressed in a bleach blonde wig, leopard print jacket and gold leather pants. Prince Andrew was also at the event. Earlier that year, blue-suited Trump, Melania, casually-dressed Epstein and Maxwell – sporting a bare midriff and back in a blue top with gold tassels – posed for the camera at a Mar-a-Lago event. And in September 2000, Melania, Trump and Maxwell were snapped together at Anand Jon's fashion show in New York City. Two years later the current President and First Lady were photographed with Maxwell and British supermodel Naomi Campbell at the opening of the Dolce & Gabbana fashion house. Maxwell vanished after Epstein was arrested but was eventually arrested in a dramatic FBI raid on her secluded hideaway in a deeply rural part of New Hampshire. Following the swoop, President Trump said of her: 'I met her numerous times over the years, especially since I live in Palm Beach, and I guess they lived in Palm Beach. But I wish her well, whatever it is.' Maxwell was a fixture at Epstein's notorious private island of Little St. James in the US Virgin Islands, where he helicoptered in under-age girls to sexually abuse in a years-long reign of vile crimes. The Chrisley Knows Best stars were found guilty of defrauding banks out of $30million in 2022; seen in 2017 Wearing a hot pink MAGA hat, Savannah told TMZ that she is 'so grateful that I'm going to leave here with my dad' after an 'insane' two years of her trying to get him and Julie freed She was also a regular on his private Boeing 727 jet, dubbed the Lolita Express, which carried Andrew and former President Bill Clinton among a host of other names, according to flight logs. Crucially she acted as a 'madame' for Epstein, recruiting vulnerable young girls from the West Palm Beach area to give Epstein 'massages' at his $20million mansion in ritzy Palm Beach. There, he would abuse them. One was tragic Virginia Giuffre, who was working as a locker room attendant at Mar-a-Lago when she said Maxwell approached her in the mid 2000s. She said it led to years of harrowing abuse where she claimed she was 'passed around like a platter of fruit' to Epstein's powerful associates. Giuffre, known as Roberts at the time, alleged one was Prince Andrew – famously photographed with his arm around her in Maxwell's London home with the socialite in the background. The royal has consistently denied her accusations, although did pay her a reported payout of up to $16million in 2022. Despite attempts to build a new life in Australia, mother-of-three Giuffre's marriage collapsed and the 41-year-old killed herself at her home on May 1 this year. Maxwell's time behind bars has had moments of trauma, despite the prison being designated a low security facility for women. She's been branded the ultimate 'prison Karen' for filing more than 400 complaints, including lackluster vegan menu options and 'unfair treatment'. The disgraced socialite also demanded authorities give her immediate access to black hair dye. And she also even bagged plush hypoallergenic bedding after whining that standard prison pillows were triggering her allergies. Her gripes in the past have targeted everyone from inmates and guards to a 'rude' laundry woman. 'Max is the prison Karen,' an insider told in 2023. 'She can file a grievance over anything. 'She complains about the food, the bedding, when they cancel temple because of bad weather or are late setting up her legal calls. 'The latest battle is over hair dye. Maxwell has gray showing through and she's filed a grievance because they don't sell it anymore. Maxwell's beefs with authorities began when she first landed at the fearsome Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, while awaiting trial. Her attorneys accused jail authorities of breaching her rights by shining a torch in her cell every 15 minutes, subjecting her to invasive searches and filming her at all hours. When she got to Tallahassee after her conviction 'she immediately wrote Brooklyn up for taking too long to ship her belongings,' said the prison source. 'Then when her shoes arrived, she refused to hand her temporary slip-ons back to the laundry lady. 'That caused a big argument and Max complained that she felt threatened and refused to go back to the laundry unaccompanied. 'That's her in a nutshell. Every aspect of prison life offers an opportunity for her to play the victim. She creates constant drama for staff and inmates.'
Fox News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Julie Chrisley makes first public outing after Trump pardon
Julie Chrisley is ready to take on the real world. On Thursday, the "Chrisley Knows Best" star, 52, was seen leaving a butcher store in Nashville, Tennessee just one day after being released from federal prison. The reality TV star, who was serving two and a half years in federal prison on bank fraud and tax evasion charges, was rocking her natural hair color while smiling outside the shop. On Wednesday evening, Julie's husband Todd first walked out of a federal prison in Pensacola, Florida, after serving two and a half years in prison, according to lawyer Alex Little's office. The release came shortly after President Donald Trump signed pardons for both Todd and Julie, who were both convicted of the same charges in 2022. Little's office confirmed to Fox News Digital that Julie had been released from the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, on Wednesday night, shortly after Todd was released. The couple's daughter, Savannah Chrisley, got emotional outside the federal prison in Pensacola awaiting her father's release earlier in the day. When speaking to reporters, Savannah said, "Honestly, this process has been absolutely insane, and I am so grateful that I'm going to leave here with my dad." Savannah claimed that prosecutors had had her father's head "on a dart board" before his prison sentence. She read Trump's pardon to the reporters, which stated an immediate release, and she said she hopes "the prison is going to do that shortly." Savannah said Trump's pardon for her parents "literally came out of nowhere." "I was in such shock and awe that the president himself took the time to tell me my family is coming back together," she said. During her interview, Savannah got emotional while explaining her constant fight to get her parents released from prison wasn't just for them. "I'm literally fighting for every man that has been left behind here," she said, referring to the prisoners in the federal prison in Pensacola. In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital on Wednesday, the couple's attorney explained how the "incredibly powerful" pardon will wipe the couple's case "entirely," as if it never happened. "A pardon like this generally ends the case entirely, and so we'll see the fine print of the pardon explicitly, but generally when you are pardoned, it is wiped away, and so it's wiped clean," Little, a partner at Litson PLLC, said. "It's as if the case hasn't happened, and fortunately Todd and Julie will be able to pick up their lives to the best that they're able and go on forward and focus on the future." "I think that the pardon process is something that hadn't been used by many presidents for many, many terms. This president clearly looks at it differently, looks at, is part of his role to oversee the criminal justice system. And look, however much you may want to criticize that, it's an incredibly powerful tool the president has, and I think it's really important the president began to use it. This was a very deserving case and I hope that he finds more." Fox News Digital's Janelle Ash and Larry Fink contributed to this post.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Sex pest Josh Duggar makes shock confession in latest bid to overturn his child pornography conviction
Josh Duggar has made a surprising admission in his in his latest attempt to overturn his conviction for possessing child sexual abuse materials. The 37-year-old former star of 19 Kids And Counting is requesting that the judge overseeing his case appoint a new lawyer to represent him. And in a letter written to the judge on Tuesday and obtained by People, the convicted sex offender claimed he needed a court-appointed attorney because he could no longer has enough money to pay his own lawyer. 'I am unable to afford counsel due to my current financial circumstances,' he reportedly wrote. Duggar was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in federal prison in May 2022 after he was convicted of receiving and possessing child sexual abuse materials. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop.
Forbes
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Trump To Pardon TV Stars Todd And Julie Chrisley, In Prison For Tax Evasion, Bank Fraud
CHRISLEY KNOWS BEST — Season:6 — Pictured: (l-r) Chase Chrisley, Grayson Chrisley, Julie Chrisley, Todd Chrisley, Chloe Chrisley, Savannah Chrisley and Faye Chrisley. President Donald Trump is pardoning reality television stars Julie and Todd Chrisley, who are currently serving federal prison sentences for conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion. In a video that appeared today on X (formerly Twitter), Trump calls the Chrisleys' daughter, Savannah Chrisley, who spoke at the Republican Convention last July and appeared on Lara Trump's Fox News show early this month, to share the news. In the video, Trump says he hopes to push the paperwork through by tomorrow. The Chrisleys rose to fame as stars of the reality television show 'Chrisley Knows Best.' The successful series followed the Chrisley family, including adult children and Todd Chrisley's mother, inspiring several spinoffs. Part of the appeal of the series was the family's lavish lifestyle. In 2019, the couple was indicted by a federal grand jury on multiple charges. The Chrisleys' accountant, Peter Tarantino, was also indicted on tax-related offenses. At the time, Todd declared his innocence on Instagram, blaming a former employee, claiming: 'Needless to say, we fired the guy and took him to court — and that's when the real trouble started. To get revenge, he took a bunch of his phony documents to the U.S. Attorney's office and told them we had committed all kinds of financial crimes, like tax evasion and bank fraud. That got their attention all right, but once we had a chance to explain who he was and what he'd done to us, they realized it was all a bunch of nonsense and they sent him on his way.' The U.S. Attorney's Office also released a statement at the time—it was very different. U.S. Attorney Byung J. 'BJay' Pak said about the indictment, 'Todd and Julie Chrisley are charged not only with defrauding a number of banks by fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars in loans, but also with allegedly cheating taxpayers by actively evading paying federal taxes on the money they earned. Celebrities face the same justice that everyone does. These are serious federal charges and they will have their day in court.' According to Pak, the charges and other information suggested that Todd and Julie Chrisley conspired to defraud multiple banks by providing false information, including personal financial statements and forged bank statements, while applying for and receiving millions of dollars in loans. After fraudulently obtaining these loans, the Chrisleys allegedly spent much of the proceeds for their personal benefit. The government also claimed that, in 2014, two years after the purported bank fraud scheme ended, Todd and Julie Chrisley utilized altered bank statements and a falsified credit report that had been physically modified through cutting, taping, or gluing when applying for and securing a lease for a home in California. The couple was also charged with conspiring with their accountant, Peter Tarantino, to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). According to the Department of Justice, in February 2017, Todd Chrisley claimed on a national radio program that 'obviously the federal government likes my tax returns because I pay 750,000 to 1 million dollars just about every year so the federal government doesn't have a problem with my taxes.' However, according to the original indictment, the Chrisleys allegedly failed to file income tax returns for the 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 tax years in a timely manner or pay federal income taxes for any of those years on time. The Chrisleys and Tarantino were also accused of taking steps to obstruct IRS collection efforts, which included hiding income and lying to third parties about their tax returns. Tarantino was hit with a separate charge of lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Special Agents. (Notwithstanding Chrisley's claims that it was a set-up, it isn't the first time the Chrisleys faced tax troubles. A bankruptcy petition from 2012 claiming tens of millions of dollars in debt listed several local tax collectors listed as debtors. In 2017, a local TV station, Nashville's WSB-TV, reported that the Chrisleys were slapped with nearly $800,000 in liens by the Georgia Department of Revenue.) On June 7, 2022, a jury convicted the Chrisleys on all counts of a superseding indictment, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit tax evasion. Julie was convicted of an additional charge of obstruction of justice because she submitted a fraudulent document in response to a grand jury subpoena. Tarantino was also convicted of multiple tax-related violations. In November, the couple was sentenced: Todd received a 12-year prison term and Julie received a seven-year sentence. (Tarantino received a three-year sentence.) Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, said about the outcome of the trial, 'In the end, when driven by greed, the verdict of guilty on all counts for these three defendants proves once again that financial crimes do not pay.' The couple maintained their innocence and appealed their sentences. Todd's appeal was rejected, but Julie's case was returned for resentencing due to a discrepancy in calculations. In 2024, a federal judge declined to reduce Julie's sentence. At the time, she expressed remorse for her actions, saying, "I would like to say I've had years to think about what I've wanted to say, and I'm sorry for my actions and situations that led us to where we are today.' Before the pardon news, Julie had an expected release date of January 8, 2028, and Todd was expected to be released on April 7, 2032. Savannah Chrisley continued to be in the public eye, speaking at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After the presidential election, Savannah reportedly sought a pardon for her parents. She visited the White House in February 2025, and appeared on "My View with Lara Trump" on Fox News earlier this month. She also pitched a new reality TV show: According to The Hollywood Reporter, a newly greenlit docuseries, The Untitled Chrisleys Project, will premiere later this year on Lifetime television. Savannah is named as an executive producer on the show, which aims at 'pulling back the curtain' with 'unprecedented access to their lives in a deeply personal and dramatic new series.' Trump is expected to sign the pardons within 24 hours. In the social media video, Savannah and her brother, Grayson, can be heard thanking Trump.
