COLUMBIA, S.C. — A date has been set for disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh to be sentenced on federal financial crimes for stealing from his clients for several years.
Federal documents show Murdaugh has a hearing set for April 1 at 10 a.m. at the federal courthouse in Charleston. The sentencing will be before Judge Richard Gergel.
Murdaugh is currently serving a life sentence after being convicted in March of 2023 of killing his wife and adult son. The case drew international media attention.
Last September, Murdaugh pleaded guilty to 22 counts of financial fraud and money laundering. Investigators think Murdaugh started stealing from his family law firm by keeping fees meant to be shared by everyone and inflating his expenses as early as 2005.
When he pleaded guilty, Murdaugh admitted to stealing from money meant to provide care for a man paralyzed from the neck down in a wreck, from two sisters who were children when they lost their mother and brother in a crash, and the estate of his longtime maid who died in a fall at the family home, as well as others.
Murdaugh pleaded guilty to 14 counts of money laundering, five counts of wire fraud, one count of bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Each charge carries a maximum of at least 20 years in prison. Some have a maximum 30-year sentence.
Other requirements of the plea deal included Murdaugh taking a lie detector test if asked and that he pay back the $9 million he is accused of stealing.
Murdaugh also pleaded guilty last November in state court to similar charges related to financial misdeeds. He was sentenced to 27 years on those charges.
During the hearing, he was confronted by several of the people who he scammed out of money. Under South Carolina law, Murdaugh will have to serve almost 23 years of the sentence, and gave up the right to appeal.
Murdaugh, however, is still appealing his murder conviction and continues to assert he's not guilty of the crime. In January, a judge denied a request by Murdaugh to throw out his murder conviction because of alleged jury tampering by the clerk of court in the case. However, he still can appeal the case, and his lawyers have indicated that he will.