Todd Chrisley Ordered to Pay $755,000 in Defamation Lawsuit Loss

The 'Chrisley Knows Best' star is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence for fraud charges

Todd Chrisley has been ordered by a Georgia court to pay $755,000 in a defamation lawsuit.

In July 2021, Amy Doherty-Heinze filed a defamation complaint against the former reality television star, alleging that he “began attacking [her] and accusing her of a multitude of crimes and wrongdoing” in 2020 following the 2017 investigation of Chrisley and his wife, Julie Chrisley, by the Georgia Department of Revenue (GDOR), according to a complaint obtained by PEOPLE.

Doherty-Heinze alleged that Todd, now 55, “began a social media campaign against the GDOR and certain of its employees, contending that the investigation was illegal and improperly motivated,” which came to involve her, even though she was “not involved” in his investigation.

After Doherty-Heinze served Todd a “retraction demand” on July 2, 2021, and he “failed and refused to retract any of his false and defamatory accusations,” she filed the defamation claim. She alleged that he "acted in bad faith" and caused her "unnecessary trouble and expense by making and refusing to retract" his statements.

On April 4, the judge ruled in favor of Doherty-Heinze, ordering Todd to pay $755,000 to Doherty-Heinze, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE.

The Chrisley Knows Best star owes $350,000 in compensatory damages, $170,000 in punitive damages and $235,000 in expenses of litigation, per the ruling.

Related: Savannah Chrisley Admits She's 'Struggling to Come Up for Air' as Family Members, Others Do 'What They Want'

In a statement shared with PEOPLE, Todd's attorney Leesa Guarnotta said they are "pleased the jury recognized that some of Mr. Chrisley’s statements were not defamatory and awarded the plaintiff a fourth of the damages she requested.”

The statement continued, "We are concerned about the state of the First Amendment where such a case could make it to trial in the first place. We are optimistic about our appeal.”

Guarnotta also noted that Todd will be appealing the ruling and they are "optimistic" about the appeal.

Related: Savannah Chrisley Shares an Update on Her New Family Show and Reveals She's Working on a Doc About Her Parents

Todd is currently serving a 10-year sentence after being indicted on 12 counts of bank and wire fraud, tax evasion, and conspiracy along with his wife, who is serving a six-year sentence. The couple were indicted in August 2019, and later cleared of their state tax evasion charge in Georgia. In November 2022, the couple was sentenced to a combined 19 years in prison and reported to prison in January 2023.

In September 2023, PEOPLE confirmed that Todd and Julie's sentences were reduced. The couple is also currently appealing their case and will soon have their case heard in oral arguments on April 19.

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On their daughter Savannah Chrisley's Unlocked podcast at the end of March, the 26-year-old read some of her mother's letters from prison aloud, detailing the challenges of missing her family's biggest moments.

"I've survived Todd's birthday, Mother's Day, Gray's birthday, Chase's birthday, my anniversary and Father's Day. That's a lot of missed days that I can never get back," Savannah read from one of Julie's letters from June 2023.

"I can only pray that I don't miss anymore," Julie continued, adding how her son Grayson Chrisley's baseball season was in "full swing" at the time of her letter. "I hate hate hate that I'm missing them, but my boy is doing so good."

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