Alex Murdaugh sentenced in federal court to 40 years in prison for financial crimes
CNN
Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh received another prison sentence Monday, this time in federal court, where a judge sentenced him to 40 years after he pleaded guilty to a raft of financial crimes, including nearly two dozen charges of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering.
Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh received another prison sentence Monday, this time in federal court, where a judge sentenced him to 40 years after he pleaded guilty to a raft of financial crimes, including nearly two dozen charges of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering. The federal sentence – which includes an order Murdaugh pay more than $8.7 million in restitution to his victims – will run concurrently with the 27 years he’s already serving following his guilty plea in state court for similar misconduct. Both cases stemmed from a myriad of schemes prosecutors say saw the now-disbarred attorney defraud his personal injury clients and law firm of millions of dollars. Those sentences are in addition to the two consecutive sentences of life without parole Murdaugh, 55, received a year ago for the murders of his wife, Maggie, and 22-year-old son, Paul – killings state prosecutors cast as a desperate attempt to distract from and delay investigations into his unraveling financial crimes. While Murdaugh insists he is innocent of the murders, he has admitted fraud and did so again Monday, saying he believed “some of the things I did” were due to an opioid addiction. Still, he said, “I knew better.” “I literally am filled with sorrow, and I am filled with guilt over the things that I did to the people that I care about so much,” Murdaugh told the judge shortly before the sentence was handed down. “I understand,” he said, “the natural reaction to what I just said is probably, ‘Is he sorry for what he did, or is he sorry that he got caught?” … But I assure you and every victim that I hurt that I am sorry for the things I did.”
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