Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced South Carolina lawyer who is already serving life in prison for killing his wife and son, was sentenced on April 1 to 40 years in prison for nearly two dozen charges related to stealing millions of dollars from vulnerable clients.
The federal sentence, which also orders Mr. Murdaugh to pay more than $8.7 million in restitution to his financial victims, can be served at the same time as the 27-year sentence that he is already serving as part of a plea deal in a South Carolina state court.
The 55-year-old disbarred attorney is also serving life without parole in state prison after a jury found him guilty of murder in the shootings of his wife and younger son.
In November 2023, Mr. Murdaugh pled guilty to 22 total counts, including money laundering, breach of trust, and financial fraud, in exchange for the 27-year sentence. South Carolina prosecutors said this was insurance to keep him behind bars in case his murder conviction was overturned.
The latest penalty came after federal prosecutors asked a federal judge to revoke a separate plea deal with Mr. Murdaugh and, as even more insurance, to give him a maximum of well over 100 years in prison.
In court papers filed on March 26, federal prosecutors said Mr. Murdaugh failed a polygraph test that he agreed to undergo as part of the plea deal, indicating that he was withholding information about the more than $6 million he stole from clients.
On top of the stolen money, for which Mr. Murdaugh pleaded guilty in September 2023 in a South Carolina federal court, the botched polygraph exam also indicates that he wasn’t truthful about the alleged criminal involvement of another attorney who hasn’t been publicly identified.
Each of the 22 counts to which Mr. Murdaugh pled guilty in federal court carries a maximum sentence of either 20 years or 30 years in prison.
Federal prosecutors argued that the court should impose the toughest possible sentence because the plea agreement was breached. They also want Mr. Murdaugh to serve his federal sentence at the end of any state sentences.
When Mr. Murdaugh pleaded guilty to his federal financial crime charges, it came with an agreement that he would subject himself to polygraph tests and “testify fully and truthfully before any grand juries and at any other trials or other proceedings.”
Federal prosecutors accused him of breaching that agreement, writing that “he ranks as one of the most prolific fraudsters this state has ever seen.”
Mr. Murdaugh’s lawyers denied the allegation and said that the prosecution should unseal test results. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina has yet to release the exact questions to which Mr. Murdaugh allegedly lied.
“To allow the Government to publicly accuse Murdaugh of breaching his plea agreement while also allowing the Government to hide all purported evidence supporting that accusation from the public would violate the public’s right to the truth,” Mr. Murdaugh’s defense team said in a March 28 sentencing memorandum.
Federal prosecutors, meanwhile, argued that the details must not be released, citing an ongoing investigation by a grand jury.
For the violent crimes, Mr. Murdaugh received two consecutive terms of life behind bars without the possibility of parole.
A prominent personal injury lawyer, Mr. Murdaugh was found guilty in March 2023 of murdering his wife Maggie, 52, and their son Paul, 22.
State prosecutors accused him of killing the mother and son to gain pity and to distract from financial crimes that could jeopardize the reputation of the Murdaughs, a legal dynasty that held the local prosecutor’s office for three successive generations.
During his high-profile double murder trial, Mr. Murdaugh took the stand to deny that he killed his wife and son but admitted to some financial misconduct.
Days after his conviction, Mr. Murdaugh’s lawyers began the appeals process, only to file a court motion to suspend the appeal in September 2023 so that they could request a new trial.
