Photo: Paul Archuleta/Getty; Dennis Leupold/USA Network/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty
ToddandJulie Chrisleyare speaking out amid news thatChloe Chrisley’s mom is trying to regain custody of the 10-year-old following the couple’s recentconviction.
Todd and Julie — who were convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax fraud —adopted their granddaughterChloe, the child ofTodd’s estranged son Kyleand Angela Johnson, in 2016.
Earlier this week, Johnson spoke withTMZ about her plans to “go back to court and get Chloe back home.“She previously shared custody of Chloe with Todd for some months in 2016 prior to her arrest after Kyle lost custody.
Jessica Doyle, the family law attorney who Todd and Chrisley used during their adoption process for Chloe, exclusively tells PEOPLE that Johnson’s public statements are “simply not legally correct or even valid.”
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Angela Johnson/Twitter; Julie Chrisley/Instagram
When speaking with TMZ aboutChloe’s future in light of the Chrisleys' sentence, which will see Todd, 53, serve a sentence of 12 years in prison and 16 months probation, while Julie, 49, will serveseven years in prisonplus16 months probation, Johnson noted she has yet to file any legal documents but is “in the process of getting some legal papers filed so I can go back to court and get Chloe back home.”
“In that timeframe that Chloe’s been gone, I was talking to attorneys and we were trying to figure out which way to go about getting Chloe back home,” she explained, referencing the Chrisley family’s move from Atlanta to Tennessee, while Johnson herself is based in South Carolina.
“But at the same time, it was kind of like we were at a standstill because we were trying to figure out where we would actually end up in court,” Johnson added.
Tommy Garcia/USA Network/NBCU Photo Bank
During last week’s pre-recorded episode of theUnlockedpodcast, Todd and Julie’s daughterSavannah Chrisleysaid that Chloe is fully aware of what’s happening.
“She listens. She listens more than you think,” Savannah said. “She’ll put on her headphones and act like she is listening to something when in reality nothing’s on.”
“So, you think she’s listening [to something else],” she added, to which Julie replied, “When really she’s just listening to the conversation.”
Added Savannah, “And so, all of the legal issues that we’ve had going on, she’s heard about, and she’s dealing with it in her own way.”
source: people.com
