Entertainment · Celebrity · 3 hrs ago
Jason Galanis appeals effort to reclaim $2.17 million set aside for victims
Jason Galanis is seeking to reclaim $2.17 million that the federal government had planned to distribute to victims of his fraud schemes.
Galanis, who is married to Savannah Chrisley, was convicted in connection with two multimillion-dollar schemes and was ordered to pay about $80.46 million in restitution.
The money came from property sales in Los Angeles and Manhattan and was transferred to a New York court in January 2025 for distribution to victims.
President Donald Trump commuted Galanis’ prison sentence in March 2025, ending his obligation to make further restitution payments, but the government says that did not require it to return the confiscated funds.
Galanis’ lawyers argue the money should be returned to him, while prosecutors say the funds already belonged to the government.
Galanis is appealing a judge’s decision rejecting his request, and a federal appeals court hearing is scheduled for Nov.
13.
Jason Galanis is appealing a judge’s decision denying his request to recover $2.17 million in confiscated funds.
The money was transferred to a federal court in January 2025 for distribution to victims of his fraud schemes.
Galanis’s lawyers argue the funds should be returned to him, while federal prosecutors say the government already owned them.
President Donald Trump commuted Galanis’s prison sentence in March 2025, ending his obligation to make additional restitution payments.
A federal appeals court hearing is scheduled for Nov. 13.
- Who
- Jason Galanis is appealing the decision. Federal prosecutors oppose returning the funds.
- What
- Galanis seeks to recover $2.17 million in confiscated funds intended for victims of his fraud schemes.
- When
- The appeal is scheduled to be heard on Nov. 13. The article was published Oct. 30, 2026.
- Where
- The funds were transferred to the Southern District of New York court clerk.
- Why
- Galanis’s lawyers say the government has no legitimate interest in keeping the money, while prosecutors say it became government property before his sentence was commuted.
Galanis’s legal team
Federal prosecutors
Ownership of the funds
Galanis’s legal team
The money came from real estate bought before the tribal bond fraud scheme and was not obtained through criminal activity.
Federal prosecutors
The money became government property long before Trump commuted Galanis’s sentence.
Whether the funds should be returned
Galanis’s legal team
The government has no legitimate interest in retaining the funds, and they must be returned to Galanis.
Federal prosecutors
Trump’s commutation did not require the government to return confiscated funds.
The confiscated funds were transferred to the Southern District of New York court clerk for distribution to victims.
Trump commuted Galanis’s sentence, ending his obligation to make additional restitution payments.
Galanis’s attorneys argued in a court filing that the government had no legitimate interest in retaining the funds.
A court filing stated that Galanis had personally paid $1,824.84 toward his restitution while incarcerated.
A federal appeals court hearing on Galanis’s appeal is scheduled.
- Amount sought
- $2.17 million
- Restitution ordered
- Approximately $80.46 million
- Payment toward restitution
- $1,824.84
- Total payments behind bars
- Approximately $2,524.84, including a $700 court assessment
- Appeals hearing
- Nov. 13
What people are saying
no legitimate interest in retaining the funds
must be returned
no recognized reason to give the funds to anyone else