AM must serve 85% of the sentence imposed by Judge Newman
Disgraced South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for stealing $12 million from his clients and family law firm. Tuesday's sentencing came after several of his 18 victims let Murdaugh know just how much he had harmed them.
apnews.com
11/28/23
Jinks went to Murdaugh after incurring hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills for a neck injury he got when someone rear-ended his car. Jinks paid the bills in advance, having been assured by Murdaugh that he would obtain a settlement to pay him back. Murdaugh got the money, but kept it himself, financially ruining his friend.
“The money you stole from me, I would have gave it to you,” Jinks said. “Why bro? Why?”
State prosecutors and defense lawyers
negotiated the 27-year prison sentence for Murdaugh, who is already serving a life term without parole after a jury found him guilty of killing his wife, Maggie, with a rifle, and younger son, Paul, with a shotgun in June 2021. Judge Clifton Newman, who also presided over the murder trial, accepted it.
[..]
The sentence for Murdaugh’s financial crimes is a kind of insurance policy to prevent his release if his murder conviction is overturned. Under South Carolina law, Murdaugh will have to serve almost 23 years of the sentence, even if he is a model prisoner. He would be 76 before he could be released. Murdaugh had to give up his rights to appeal as part of the deal.
Newman said Tuesday that Murdaugh had the emptiest soul of anyone he has seen in his 23 years on the bench, with the exception of a man who was sentenced to death for killing an off-duty police officer and burning his body.
“The question was asked: What kind of animal are you?” Newman said, referring to additional comments Jinks made during his testimony. “You are an enigmatic person. I don’t think you understand yourself.”
