Murdaugh Pleads to Federal Charges for Skimming Settlement Funds from Clients

For the first time, Alex Murdaugh has admitted in federal court that he committed 22 counts of financial fraud and money laundering.

Murdaugh, a well-known South Carolina attorney who said he was addicted to opioids, is already serving life without parole in a South Carolina prison for killing his wife and son. He pleaded guilty this week to the financial crimes, which were related to defrauding his personal injury clients of as much as $7 million and hiding his efforts through money laundering schemes, news outlets and federal prosecutors reported. He used settlement funds for personal benefits, prosecutors said.

The federal guilty plea likely locks in years if not decades in prison for the disbarred lawyer, even if his murder conviction and sentence in state court is overturned on appeal.

“Alex Murdaugh’s financial crimes were extensive, brazen, and callous,” U.S. Attorney Adair Boroughs said in a statement. “He stole indiscriminately from his clients, from his law firm, and from others who trusted him. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI, and SLED committed to investigating and prosecuting Murdaugh’s financial crimes when they first came to light. Today marks our fulfillment of that promise.”

The deal for pleading guilty in federal court is straightforward. Prosecutors will ask that any federal sentence Murdaugh gets will 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.

That could be a broad range of wrongdoing. The federal charges against the disgraced attorney, whose family were prosecutors and were founders of a heavy- hitting law firm that no longer carries the Murdaugh name in tiny Hampton County, deal with stealing money from a few clients and others, and creating fraudulent bank accounts.

In one scheme, Murdaugh admitted that from 2011 until 2021, he conspired with his banker, Russell Laffitte, to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, prosecutors said. Murdaugh asked Laffitte to serve as personal representative or conservator for numerous personal injury clients. Laffitte, who also has pleaded guilty, collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees as personal representative or conservator for Murdaugh’s personal injury clients.

As part of the scheme, Murdaugh directed law firm employees to make settlement checks payable to “Palmetto State Bank.” The checks were drawn on Murdaugh’s law firm’s trust account and identified the personal injury clients on the memo lines, the U.S. Attorney said in a statement. Murdaugh then had the checks delivered to Laffitte, who distributed the checks for Murdaugh’s benefit, including to pay off personal loans and for personal expenses and cash withdrawals.

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 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.

Each charge in the financial crimes carries a maximum of at least 20 years in prison. Some have a maximum 30-year sentence. Murdaugh will be sentenced at a later date.

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.

Photo: Murdaugh at a state court hearing Sept. 14. (AP Photo/James Pollard)