Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh was sentenced Monday morning to 40 years in prison for numerous financial crimes to which he pleaded guilty last year.
The disgraced former lawyer was already sentenced to two life sentences last year for the shocking murders of his wife and 22-year-old son in one of the most high-profile trials in recent history.
The federal sentence handed down Monday is in addition to the 27-year sentence Murdaugh received in state court for similar financial crimes.
Prosecutors in both cases alleged that Murdaugh brazenly defrauded clients of personal injury firms out of millions of dollars and buried them in a web of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering.
In sentencing him to 40 years in prison on Monday, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel chose a harsher sentence than federal prosecutors had recommended.
Gergel said in court that he sacrificed “some of the neediest and most vulnerable people,” including his client who is a quadriplegic, a state trooper injured on the job, and a trust fund for children who lost their parents in car crashes. he said in court.
“They put all their problems and all their hopes on Mr. Murdaugh, and it was from the people that Mr. Murdaugh abused and stole from. This is a series of actions that is difficult to understand,” Gergel said. .
A jury convicted Murdaugh, 55, of murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul in 2021 in an attempt to distract from a financial crimes investigation.
Murdaugh has strongly denied any involvement in the killing while dealing with growing financial suspicions against him.
Murdaugh was sentenced last year to life in prison without parole for two consecutive years for the murders of his wife and son, and his request for a new trial was recently denied.
