Murdaugh accomplice Laffitte given one week extension to report to federal prison

A federal judge said Wednesday that Russell Laffitte, a former banker who was convicted in federal court last year of helping Alex Murdaugh steal millions, doesn’t have to report to prison — for now.

Judge Richard Gergel wrote in a Wednesday afternoon order that Laffitte can avoid reporting to prison for one more week to see if the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals will allow him to stay free for months while the court considers Laffitte’s full-fledged appeal.

“No further extensions will be granted,” wrote Gergel. “The Court grants Defendant’s motion for a one-week extension to report to the Bureau of Prisons, until Sept. 28, 2023.”

Gergel, the presiding judge in Laffitte’s case, wrote that he did not believe Laffitte and his lawyers had an issue substantial enough to allow him to overturn last year’s guilty verdict by a Charleston federal jury.

Laffitte, 55, had been ordered to report to federal prison by Sept. 14 to begin serving a seven-year sentence.

But in August, his lawyers filed a notice of appeal with the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and also made a motion with Gergel for Laffitte to stay free until the appeals court heard the appeal and upheld or overturned his guilty verdict and sentence.

Gergel granted that motion and gave Laffitte’s lawyers until Thursday, Sept. 21, to hear from the Court of Appeals as to whether Laffitte could stay free while his full appeal goes up to the 4th Circuit. That process could take many months.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Court of Appeals still had not ruled on whether Laffitte could stay free. So rather than order Laffitte to report to prison right away, Gergel extended the time he could stay free.

Gergel’s action was in response to a motion filed late last week by Laffitte’s lawyers asking that their client stay free for another week — until Sept. 29.

Last November a federal jury in Charleston found Laffitte guilty of six counts of fraud in his use of his bank, the Palmetto State Bank, to launder and otherwise misappropriate millions of dollars being held in conservatorships for some of Murdaugh’s former clients. The trial took nearly three weeks, and the jury was out for more than eight hours.

Murdaugh was an unindicted co-conspirator in that trial and was named repeatedly during testimony.

During the trial, prosecutors introduced more than 300 exhibits to the jury, including spreadsheets, canceled checks, charts and bank statements.

A key appeal issue is likely to be Gergel’s unusual expulsion of two jurors after the jury had deliberated eight hours and replacing them with two alternates.

Gergel dropped one juror who said she needed to go home to take medicines, and another who said she had been suffering from anxiety and could no longer function as a juror. Jurors had also sent Gergel a message saying one juror was being unreasonable and refusing to follow the judge’s instructions about deliberating.

Once the jurors were replaced, the jury returned a verdict within an hour.

Murdaugh, a disbarred lawyer, was convicted last March of killing his wife, Maggie, and son Paul. He is now serving two consecutive life sentences in state prison.

Laffitte attorney Mark Moore said Wednesday, “We are very grateful for the extension granted by the court.”

This story was originally published September 20, 2023 at 3:34 PM.