Murdaugh ‘earned every day’ of 40-year financial crimes sentence, prosecutors say

In a scathing rebuke to Alex Murdaugh’s bid to overturn his 40-year sentence for financial fraud, federal prosecutors are arguing his stiff punishment suits his long-running and extraordinary series of financial crimes.

“Murdaugh earned every day of the 40 years through the ‘massive fraud’ he committed ‘over many years, which took a human toll on its victims’,” federal prosecutors argued.

The prosecutors made their case late last week in a 24-page brief filed in the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in response to a legal filing by Murdaugh in early July to overturn his financial crimes sentence.

The sentence was handed down in April by U.S. Judge Richard Gergel, who was so repelled by Murdaugh’s years-long string of betrayal of the legal profession and crimes against innocent victims that he added 10 years to the 30-year sentence that prosecutors originally requested.

In their brief, prosecutors quoted Gergel and wrote that Murdaugh “stole from 27 clients, some of the most needy, vulnerable human beings. One was a paraplegic. They were motherless children. They were widowers.... I’ve seen the disgrace that he’s brought, not just to himself, but to his law firm, to his county, to his state.... the judicial system nationally. Those are all factors to be considered.”

Over the years, the victims — people who had won huge settlements in legal cases — came in a slow but steady stream to Murdaugh, and he often used his law firm’s client trust account to launder their awards and direct millions to himself. He was a fourth-generation member of the law firm, and for years, his directives to move money from the trust account went unchallenged.

“I’ve never seen this type of conduct: A massive fraud over many years, which took a human toll on its victims,” an astonished Gergel said at last April’s hearing.

In their July filing, Murdaugh’s attorneys decried Gergel’s 40-year sentence, saying it amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment,” given that their client is now 56 years old. Such a lengthy sentence amounts to a death sentence and is also grossly disproportionate to other federal sentences handed down to other major fraudsters, they argued.

“With good time credit, he will be eligible for release after serving 85 percent of his sentence, or 34 years,” the brief said. “However, his life expectancy is only 24.14 years, according to the Social Security Life Expectancy Table.”

“The District Court effectively sentenced Murdaugh to life in prison without the possibility of parole,” Murdaugh’s brief said.

Prosecutors also pointed out that in his plea deal, Murdaugh had agreed to waive any appeal of his sentence, with limited exceptions, and they argued that a stiffer than expected sentence from Gergel did not qualify as an appealable issue.

The prosecutors’ brief also gave a detailed summary of Murdaugh’s financial crimes, some of which were committed with his friends, ex-banker Russell Lafitte and ex-lawyer Corey Fleming, both of whom are now in prison.

Those crimes spanned 15 years and involved “a remarkable combination of extremely vulnerable victims” who had trusted Murdaugh, the brief said. They involved “thefts of $9.4 million from 27 clients and $1.4 million from his law firm,” the brief said.

Prosecutors also reminded the 4th Circuit that Gergel had said one reason for the stiff sentence was to send a message to other lawyers “to demonstrate the serious consequences to attorneys and other fiduciaries who engage in such conduct.”

Murdaugh’s federal crimes included money laundering, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and wire fraud affecting a financial institution.

In Gergel’s 30 years of practicing law and 14 years on the bench, he said, “I’ve never seen this type of conduct: A massive fraud over many years, which took a human toll on its victims.”

Murdaugh is also serving two consecutive life sentences in state prison for the June 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie, and son Paul at the family estate. He is appealing those verdicts.

Prosecutors on the case are Emily Limehouse, Kathleen Stoughton and Winston Holliday.

Murdaugh’s lawyers are Jim Griffin and Margaret Fox.