Julie Chrisley’s Letters from Prison Show Heartbreaking Reality of Her Separation from Todd: ‘Miss’ Him ‘So Much It Hurts’

More than a year after Julie Chrisley began her prison sentence, fans are getting to hear about her experience in her own words.

On Tuesday’s episode of her daughter Savannah Chrisley’s Unlocked podcast, the 26-year-old Chrisley Knows Best alum shared letters written by her mother from behind bars, which details her sorrow over being separated from her husband Todd and their children.

In the first letter from January 17, 2023 — which is when the couple first reported to prison — the former reality star wrote, “I knew my life was about to change forever. My husband and I stood in our bedroom right in front of our prayer bench and said our goodbyes. We hugged, we kissed and we prayed before he walked out the door heading to Pensacola, Florida with Savannah, Grayson and Nick.”

Julie, 51, is currently serving her now-reduced five-year prison sentence in Lexington, Kentucky while her husband Todd, 54, is also serving a reduced 10-year sentence in Federal Prison Camp Pensacola in Florida for their financial crimes.

“This would be the last time I would speak to my husband face to face,” she shared. “We talked on the phone during his ride to Pensacola, I called one last time before I self surrendered to the camp in Lexington.”

Savannah became emotional when she continued reading the letter, which read, “What a sobering thought, the man I had lived with, raised a family with and loved more than life itself is now temporarily residing in Florida, and me in Kentucky.”

“My parents and the child that made me a mother, Chase, along with Chad, our dear friend, drove to Kentucky,” Julie recalled. “I could not wrap my head around the fact that I was going to be separated from my husband and children for what seems like a lifetime. We turned onto the road that the prison is located, passing white vans with paparazzi in them. My family said their goodbyes and I walked into prison with nothing but the clothes on my back.”

In another letter, Julie wrote that she was “so happy” to be able to communicate with her family but notes, “I miss Todd so much that it hurts. I’ve never gone this long without talking to him.”

Savannah refers to the letter as “heartbreaking,” adding, “I can just feel her hurt through these messages and to just think about how different life is now, a year, almost a year and a half later, and to just think that like, sure, there’s some funny things in here, mom’s trying to make jokes, trying to make light of it, but like this is her life now. And it’s so different than obviously what it was before, in just the emotional aspect of it of having to miss your family so much.”

Julie shared in another note that the family’s fame extended behind bars which only made her miss her husband, explaining, “So many people know us here, so they’re always talking about him, which I love but it still makes me sad too.”

Savannah read another letter from her mother, in which she shared that she was still longing to see Todd.

“It was great seeing the kids and Mom and Dad this week, but I miss Todd so bad,” she wrote. “I miss his voice. I miss being able to lay in bed beside each other. I miss my person. I called Chase in the middle of the afternoon and gosh, I worry about my kids so much. I only talked to him for a minute and then followed it up with an email. … I also went to a building for x-rays on my feet.”

Savannah shared that “every single letter” Julie wrote mentioned how she can’t wait to hear from or see Todd.

Todd and Julie were indicted in August 2019 for 12 counts of bank and wire fraud, tax evasion, and conspiracy, all of which they have denied. The couple was cleared of their state tax evasion charge in Georgia in October 2019 but continued to face federal charges for allegedly evading federal taxes.

Following a nearly three-week-long trial that began in May 2022, the Chrisleys were later sentenced that November to a combined 19 years in prison. And despite having appealed the case, they reported to prison on January 2023.