Current:Home > StocksConvicted killer Alex Murdaugh sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for stealing from clients and his law firm -Achieve Wealth Network
Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for stealing from clients and his law firm
View
Date:2025-04-18 19:35:11
For maybe the last time, Alex Murdaugh, in a prison jumpsuit instead of the suit he used to wear, shuffled into a courtroom Monday in South Carolina and was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison.
Murdaugh was punished - this time in federal court - for stealing from clients and his law firm. The 55-year-old disbarred attorney is already serving a life sentence without parole in a state prison for killing his wife and son.
A report by federal agents recommended a prison sentence between 17 1/2 and just under 22 years.
The 40-year sentence will be insurance on top of insurance. Along with the life sentence, Murdaugh pleaded guilty and was ordered to spend 27 years in prison in state court on financial crime charges. The federal sentence will run at the same time as his state prison term and he likely will have to serve all 40 years if his murder convictions are overturned on appeal.
U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel said he sentenced Murdaugh to a harsher punishment than suggested because Murdaugh stole from "the most needy, vulnerable people" like a client who became a quadriplegic after a crash, a state trooper who was injured on the job, and a trust fund meant for children whose parents were killed in a wreck.
"They placed all their problems and all their hopes on Mr. Murdaugh and it is from those people he abused and stole. It is a difficult set of actions to understand," Gergel said.
The 22 federal counts are the final charges outstanding for Murdaugh, who three years ago was an established lawyer negotiating multimillion-dollar settlements in tiny Hampton County, where members of his family served as elected prosecutors and ran the area's premier law firm for nearly a century.
Murdaugh will also have to pay nearly $9 million in restitution.
Prosecutors are asking to give Murdaugh a harsher sentence because FBI agents think he is not telling the whole truth about what happened to $6 million he stole and whether a so-far unnamed attorney helped his criminal schemes.
Murdaugh's largest scheme involved the sons of his longtime housekeeper Gloria Satterfield. She died in a fall at the family home. Murdaugh promised to take care of Satterfield's family, then worked with a lawyer friend who pleaded guilty on a scheme to steal $4 million in a wrongful death settlement with the family's insurer.
In all, Murdaugh took settlement money from or inflated fees or expenses for more than two dozen clients. Prosecutors said the FBI found 11 more victims than the state investigation found and that Murdaugh stole nearly $1.3 million from them.
Murdaugh again apologized to his victims at his sentencing Monday, saying he felt "guilt, sorrow, shame, embarrassment, humiliation."
Just like at his state sentencing, Murdaugh offered to meet with his victims so they can say what they want to say and "more closely inspect my sincerity."
"There's not enough time and I don't possess a sufficient vocabulary to adequately portray to you in words the magnitude of how I feel about the things I did," Murdaugh said.
Murdaugh blamed nearly two decades of addiction to opioids for his crimes and said he was proud is has been clean for 937 days.
Gergel scoffed at him blaming drugs.
"No truly impaired person could pull off these complex transactions," the judge said of the maze of fake accounts, juggled checks and money passed from one place to another to hide the thefts for nearly 20 years.
Murdaugh was convicted a year ago of killing his younger son Paul with a shotgun and his wife, Maggie, with a rifle. While he has pleaded guilty to dozens of financial crimes, he adamantly denies he killed them and testified in his own defense.
Evidence at the trial included bloody crime scene images, Murdaugh's interviews with investigators, details about Maggie Murdaugh's autopsy, cell phone evidence and testimony from a forensic engineer.
There will be years of appeals in the murder cases. In January, a South Carolina judge denied his bid for a new trial after his defense team accused a clerk of court with tampering with a jury.
The case has captivated true crime fans, spawning dozens of podcast episodes and thousands of social media posts. It continued its odd twists in the days before Monday's sentencing hearing.
Lawyers for Murdaugh said an FBI agent who conducted a polygraph test asked Murdaugh if he could keep a secret, then confided he had just examined notorious Dutch killer Joran van der Sloot.
Murdaugh flunked that polygraph test, according to prosecutors who want a harsher sentence. Each of the 22 counts Murdaugh pleaded guilty to in federal court carried a minimum of 20 years in prison. Some carry a 30-year maximum.
The defense said the alleged odd behavior and unusual questions from a FBI agent caused Murdaugh to fail the test.
Prosecutors want to keep many of the FBI statements secret, saying they are still investigating the missing money and who might have helped Murdaugh to steal it. They say making the information public would jeopardize an ongoing grand jury investigation.
- In:
- Alex Murdaugh
veryGood! (6563)
Related
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- 1 dead, at least 18 injured after tornado hits central Mississippi town
- Washington state stockpiles thousands of abortion pills
- We’re Investigating Heat Deaths and Illnesses in the Military. Tell Us Your Story.
- DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
- Submarine on expedition to Titanic wreckage missing with 5 aboard; search and rescue operation underway
- Medicare tests a solution to soaring hospice costs: Let private insurers run it
- This Week in Clean Economy: Pressure Is on Obama to Finalize National Solar Plan
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- 'Therapy speak' is everywhere, but it may make us less empathetic
Ranking
- Jorge Ramos reveals his final day with 'Noticiero Univision': 'It's been quite a ride'
- 24-Hour Flash Deal: Save $225 on the Dyson Ball Animal 3 Extra Upright Vacuum
- Deforestation Is Getting Worse, 5 Years After Countries and Companies Vowed to Stop It
- Q&A: Denis Hayes, Planner of the First Earth Day, Discusses the ‘Virtual’ 50th
- Elon Musk's skyrocketing net worth: He's the first person with over $400 billion
- Alibaba replaces CEO and chairman in surprise management overhaul
- How A New Majority On Wisconsin's Supreme Court Could Impact Reproductive Health
- Full transcript of Face the Nation, June 18, 2023
Recommendation
Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
Medications Can Raise Heat Stroke Risk. Are Doctors Prepared to Respond as the Planet Warms?
Shark Week 2023 is here! Shop nautical merch from these brands to celebrate the occasion
In Montana, Children File Suit to Protect ‘the Last Best Place’
Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor
As states start to get opioid settlement cash, few are sharing how they spend it
West Virginia's COVID vaccine lottery under scrutiny over cost of prizes, tax issues
Video: Covid-19 Drives Earth Day Anniversary Online, Inspiring Creative New Tactics For Climate Activists