© Reuters. Alex Richard Murdaugh is seen on this police mugshot photograph in Orlando, Florida, U.S., October 14, 2021. Image taken October 14, 2021. ORANGE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS/Handout through REUTERS/File Picture
(Reuters) – Richard “Alex” Murdaugh, a disgraced former powerhouse lawyer in South Carolina already serving life in jail for the homicide of his spouse and son, acquired a 27-year sentence on Tuesday for his responsible plea to almost two dozen monetary crimes.
The sentence handed down in a Charleston courtroom, a part of the plea deal Murdaugh reached earlier this month, shall be served concurrently with the 2 life phrases imposed eight months in the past following his homicide trial, mentioned a spokesman for the state legal professional common’s workplace.
A jury discovered Murdaugh, a once-prominent private damage legal professional and scion of an influential authorized household, responsible in March of gunning down his spouse, Maggie, 52, and youngest son, Paul, 22, on the household property on June 7, 2021.
Murdaugh has appealed his homicide convictions and maintains he’s harmless of the killings.
However on Nov. 17, he pleaded responsible to 22 state felony prices of monetary wrongdoing, together with cash laundering, forgery, tax evasion and breach of belief with fraudulent intent.
At his homicide trial, prosecutors mentioned Murdaugh killed his spouse and son to distract from his monetary crimes, by which he stole hundreds of thousands of {dollars} used to assist a years-long opioids habit and lavish way of life.
He pleaded responsible to financial institution fraud and different monetary felonies in a separate federal case in September. He’s awaiting sentencing on the federal prices.
