Alex Murdaugh, a South Carolina attorney found guilty of killing his wife and kid in a well-publicized trial last year, was given a 40-year jail term on Monday for financial offenses.
Murdaugh, 55, is already serving a life sentence for the June 2021 killings of his wife Maggie and son Paul, 22, at the family’s hunting estate. Murdaugh is the scion of a wealthy family of judges and attorneys.
This time, it was for financial offenses, and it was for 40 years in federal court.
Murdaugh was recently punished for embezzling money from both his legal practice and clients. For killing his wife and son, the 55-year-old disbarred lawyer is already incarcerated in a state penitentiary for life without the possibility of release.
In the case that resulted in Murdaugh’s sentence on Monday, federal officials had recommended a term ranging from 17.5 to little under 22 years.
What Judge said?
Murdaugh was sentenced to a harsher punishment than suggested by US District Judge Richard Gergel because he stole from “the most needy, vulnerable people,” including a client who became a quadriplegic after a crash, a state trooper injured on the job, and a trust fund intended for children whose parents were killed in a wreck.
Murdaugh took from those who “placed all of their problems and hopes” in him, according to Gergel.
Murdaugh, who three years ago was an established lawyer negotiating multi-million 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, was charged with only 22 federal counts.
Murdaugh would have to pay millions in restitution.
Murdaugh blamed his nearly two-decade drug addiction and expressed pride in being clean for 937 days.