Federal prosecutors have asked the court to dismiss Alex Murdaugh’s appeal of federal financial crimes charges because he is seeking a reduced sentence after being convicted of murder and fraud, according to court documents.
The defendants argued that as part of a plea agreement, they waived their right to appeal the sentence when they admitted to defrauding 27 victims and their own law firm out of approximately $11 million over several years.
“For more than 15 years, he wove an intricate web of exploitation, manipulation and deception, preying on extremely vulnerable victims to further his own financial gain,” federal prosecutors wrote in a motion to dismiss filed in federal court on Thursday.
Alex Murdaugh’s lawyers say jurors heard irrelevant evidence for weeks as the defense seeks a new trial.
Alex Murdaugh’s reaction after being convicted. (Fox News)
According to prosecutors’ documents, Murdaugh stole a total of $10,901,547.32 from his clients and law partners, wired the settlement funds into his own bank accounts and later laundered more than half of it. He pleaded guilty to 22 federal financial crimes counts in September 2023.
U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel sentenced him to 40 years in prison for multiple counts, including four 30-year sentences and four 20-year sentences to run concurrently, plus 14 10-year sentences for money laundering. Prosecutors had sought a 30-year sentence.
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In court documents, prosecutors noted that Murdaugh’s plea deal included a partial waiver of his right to appeal, limiting his ability to raise just a handful of issues, including prosecutorial misconduct, ineffective counsel and future changes in the law that could affect his sentence. He accepted the deal “of his own free will and because he is guilty.”
Read the Motion to Dismiss
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But according to prosecutors, his appeal was based on two grievances: that the court imposed a “de facto” life sentence without proper review, and that his sentence was “grossly disproportionate” to the crime.
“Both are barred by appellate waivers,” prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for South Carolina wrote to the court.
Alex Murdaugh (right) is seen with his family in an undated family photo after a jury found him guilty of murdering his wife, Maggie (second from left), and son, Paul (second from right). (Fox News)
Therefore, they argued, the judge should dismiss his appeal.
“If the Court were to determine that Murdaugh’s claim could proceed solely because it was stated in accordance with the Eighth Amendment, any defendant dissatisfied with his sentence could escape his binding and valid appellate waiver by simply arguing that his sentence was ‘disproportionate,'” the prosecutors wrote. “The exception swallows the rule, rendering the appellate waiver meaningless. Murdaugh’s appeal must be dismissed.”
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Attorney Eric Brand, right, along with members of the Satterfield family, address the court during Alex Murdaugh’s sentencing for stealing from 18 clients, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023, in Beaufort County Court in South Carolina. (Andrew J. Whitaker/Post and Courier via The Associated Press, Pool)
Murdaugh is serving a life sentence for murdering his wife Maggie, 52, and son Paul, 22, at the family’s former Moselle home in Colleton County in June 2021. He is appealing his conviction and denies causing harm to his wife or son.
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But he pleaded guilty to dozens of financial crimes and also received a 27-year prison sentence on state charges of fraud and theft.
More than $4 million of Murdaugh’s stolen funds were owed to the family of the notorious lawyer’s former housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, after she died in her home in February 2018. Murdaugh encouraged her sons to sue Satterfield’s home insurance company.
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He helped negotiate a settlement, then took it for himself and never told her sons the matter was resolved.
