Alex Murdaugh sentenced in federal court to 40 years in prison for financial crimes
Originally Published: 01 APR 24 05:00 ET
Updated: 01 APR 24 11:32 ET
By Dakin Andone and Dianne Gallagher, CNN
(CNN) — Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh received another prison sentence on Monday, this time in federal court, where a judge sentenced him to 40 years after he pleaded guilty last year to nearly two dozen charges of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering.
Those 40 years will run concurrently with the 27 he’s already serving after pleading guilty in state court to similar crimes, all stemming from financial misconduct that prosecutors say saw him defraud his personal injury clients and law firm of millions of dollars.
That’s in addition to the two life sentences he received last year for the murders of his wife and 22-year-old son.
Murdaugh pleaded guilty last September to 22 federal charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering after federal prosecutors accused him of defrauding his personal injury clients and namesake law firm of millions of dollars in settlement funds he used for his personal benefit.
Each charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 or 30 years, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina said previously. In a filing last week, prosecutors recommended Murdaugh be sentenced to between 17.5 and almost 22 years in prison.
The now-disbarred attorney, 55, was previously sentenced in state court to 27 years for similar crimes after pleading guilty to almost two dozen charges including money laundering, breach of trust, conspiracy, forgery and tax evasion.
That’s in addition to the consecutive life sentences he received a year ago for his conviction of the June 2021 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 schemes.
While Murdaugh insists he is innocent of the murders, he has admitted to the financial crimes, saying he was maintaining a yearslong opioid addiction.
In exchange for his guilty plea, federal prosecutors agreed to recommend Murdaugh’s sentence be served concurrently with the one imposed in South Carolina, court filings show.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
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