Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh admitted in federal court on Thursday to 22 counts of financial fraud and money laundering. It was the first time Murdaugh, a now-disbarred South Carolina attorney, pleaded guilty to a crime since his arrest nearly two years ago.
Murdaugh, 55, is serving life without parole in a South Carolina prison for shooting his wife and son. He has denied any role in the killings since their deaths in June 2021 and insisted he was innocent in two days of testimony earlier this year before he was convicted of two counts of murder. He repeatedly broke down in tears on the stand during the trial as he denied the killings, although Murdaugh admitted in his testimony that he had lied to investigators, and acknowledged that evidence presented by the prosecution put him at the scene of the murders on the night his family members were killed.
The latest federal guilty plea likely locks in years if not decades in prison for the disgraced lawyer, even if his murder conviction and sentence in state court are overturned on appeal. Murdaugh's legal team filed a motion earlier this month seeking a new trial, on claims alleging that the court clerk tampered with the jury and that there is "newly discovered evidence" in the case.
Murdaugh was expected to plead guilty to the 22 federal counts of financial fraud and money laundering, as he signed a plea agreement on Monday. The charges relate to allegations that he stole millions of dollars from his clients. On Thursday, Murdaugh told the judge he wanted to be held accountable for stealing from clients and do right by his surviving son.
"I want to take responsibility. I want my son to see me take responsibility. It's my hope that by taking responsibility that the people I've hurt can begin to heal," said Murdaugh, standing in his orange South Carolina prison jumpsuit.
He will be sentenced at a later date.
The deal for pleading guilty in federal court is straightforward. Prosecutors will ask that the federal sentence Murdaugh gets run at the same time as any prison term he serves from a state court. They won't give him credit defendants typically receive for pleading guilty.
In exchange, authorities get a requirement placed in almost every plea deal, which is especially significant in this case: "The Defendant agrees to be fully truthful and forthright with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies by providing full, complete and truthful information about all criminal activities about which he/she has knowledge," reads the standard language included in Murdaugh's deal.
The federal charges against the disgraced attorney, whose family were both prosecutors and founders of a heavy-hitting law firm that no longer carries the Murdaugh name in Hampton County, deal with stealing money from at least five clients and creating fraudulent bank accounts.
Murdaugh admitted Thursday to stealing from money meant to provide care for a man paralyzed from the neck down in a wreck, from two sisters who were children when they lost their mother and brother in a crash, the estate of his longtime maid who died in a fall at the family home and from others.
"Given the severity and callousness of his crimes, Alex Murdaugh should never receive any incentive-based deal from the government, be it federal or state, and we respectfully disagree with the federal government's voluntary decision to concede to a concurrent sentence in exchange for his guilty plea and agreement to 'cooperate,'" said attorney Justin Bamberg, who represents multiple victims of Murdaugh's financial crimes, in a statement to CBS News.
He said each of the victims "are looking forward to seeing him receive the individual sentences he earned via his own individual criminal conduct towards each of them under South Carolina law."
"At his murder trial and in an attempt to appear to acknowledge his many wrongdoings, Murdaugh testified that he did all of the financial crimes alone. Today, he pleaded guilty to working hand-in-hand with co-conspirators. Where does fact begin and fiction end with Alex?" the statement continued. " We trust that the South Carolina Attorney General's Office will remain steadfast in its commitment to hold Murdaugh accountable and will give him no breaks and offer no incentives; that ship sailed years ago."
Murdaugh still faces about 100 different charges in state court. Authorities said he committed insurance fraud by trying to have someone kill him so his surviving son could get $10 million in life insurance, but the shot only grazed Murdaugh's head. Investigators said Murdaugh also failed to pay taxes on the money he stole, took settlement money from several clients and his family's law firm, and ran a drug and money laundering ring.
He is scheduled to face trial on at least some of those charges at the end of November. State prosecutors have insisted they want him to face justice for each one.
As federal prosecutor Emily Limehouse gave the judge details about each scheme to steal money, Murdaugh rocked back and forth.
Judge Richard Gergel asked Murdaugh if he disagreed with any of the prosecution's description and the former attorney, whose law license is now revoked, referred to his lawyer Jim Griffin.
When Murdaugh represented a woman who died in a wreck, he didn't steal from her estate — just her surviving husband's money, Griffin said.
"Doesn't make it any better, but that's just one fine point of clarification," he added.
Murdaugh's previous job was also mentioned a few times during the hearing. As it started, Gergel said he knew Murdaugh was familiar with the standard questions that defendants get asked as they plead guilty and mostly struck to the script.
But when Gergel asked if Murdaugh was sober, the former lawyer — who blames decades of painkiller and other drug abuse for his crimes — said he has been "proudly clean" for 744 days.
That would be Sept. 7, 2021, three days after police said he asked a friend to kill him on the side of that lonely Lowcountry two-lane road.
Murdaugh pleaded guilty to 14 counts of money laundering, five counts of wire fraud, one count of bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The click of his pen as he signed the documents reverberated around the quiet courtroom.
Each charge carries a maximum of at least 20 years in prison. Some have a maximum 30-year sentence.
Other requirements of the plea deal include that Murdaugh pay back $9 million he is accused of stealing and take a lie detector test if asked.
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