© Reuters. Alex Richard Murdaugh is seen on this police mugshot picture 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, might be served concurrently with the 2 life phrases imposed eight months in the past following his homicide trial, stated a spokesman for the state lawyer basic’s workplace.
A jury discovered Murdaugh, a once-prominent private damage lawyer 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 fees of economic wrongdoing, together with cash laundering, forgery, tax evasion and breach of belief with fraudulent intent.
At his homicide trial, prosecutors stated Murdaugh killed his spouse and son to distract from his monetary crimes, via which he stole hundreds of thousands of {dollars} used to help 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 fees.
