COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A federal court has rejected Alex Murdaugh's request to throw out his 40-year sentence for stealing from clients and his law firm. The disgraced South Carolina lawyer said his punishment is a decade longer than what prosecutors recommended.
U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel said in April that he chose a harsher prison sentence because Murdaugh stole from “the most needy, vulnerable people,” clients who were maimed in wrecks or lost loved ones and had placed all their problems and all their hopes with the now disbarred attorney.
The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Tuesday to dismiss the appeal, saying in a two-page ruling that when Murdaugh agreed to plead guilty, he waived his right to appeal except in extraordinary circumstances, and a harsher-than-expected sentence didn't count.
Murdaugh's lawyers said they are now considering their options. The 40-year federal sentence has been considered a backstop, in case the 56-year-old Murdaugh wins a separate appeal of the life sentence he's serving in a South Carolina prison for the killings of his wife and son.
Murdaugh testified in his own defense at trial, adamantly denying that he shot his family. The South Carolina Supreme Court agreed to consider whether his murder convictions should be tossed out because his lawyers said a clerk may have tampered with the jury.
In the federal theft case, Murdaugh’s lawyers said his right against cruel and unusual punishment under the U.S. Constitution was violated because Gergel ignored the 17 1/2 years to just under 22 years in prison recommended by federal agents and the 30 years suggested by prosecutors when he sentenced Murdaugh to 40 years.
In response to his appeal, federal prosecutors noted simply that when Murdaugh agreed to plead guilty, he signed a document saying he wouldn’t appeal unless prosecutors lied or his defense attorneys were inadequate.
Murdaugh admitted that he stole from his clients in wrongful death and injury cases. In handing down the stiff sentence, Gergel mentioned stealing from a state trooper who was injured on the job and a trust fund intended for children whose parents were killed in a wreck.
Those people “placed all their problems and all their hopes” with their lawyer, Gergel said.
Murdaugh’s attorneys compared his case to the 25 years in prison for crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried and the 11-year sentence handed down to Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes, saying they stole billions while Murdaugh merely stole millions.
But the victims in those cases were investors, whereas Murdaugh stole from vulnerable people who trusted him to protect their legal interests.
Even though this federal appeal was rejected, Murdaugh's cases will remain in appellate courts for years.
Courts haven’t even begun hearing the meat of Murdaugh’s argument that the judge in his murder trial made mistakes, for example by allowing his money thefts into evidence. That was critical to the prosecution’s argument that the killings were meant to buy sympathy and time to keep the thefts from being discovered.
Investigators said Murdaugh was addicted to opioids and his complex schemes to steal money from clients and his family’s law firm were starting to unravel when he shot his younger son, Paul, with a shotgun and his wife, Maggie, with a rifle at their home in Colleton County in 2021.
FILE - Alex Murdaugh shakes hands with his attorney Jim Griffin during his sentencing for stealing from 18 clients, Nov. 28, 2023, at the Beaufort County Courthouse in Beaufort, S.C. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool, File)
In a debate that evoked a calmer era in American politics, Tim Walz and JD Vance went after each other’s running mates Tuesday and sought to shore up their campaigns’ vulnerabilities at a time of renewed fears of a regional war in the Middle East and sadness over devastation from Hurricane Helene.
Meanwhile, those new trials — along with a dockworkers strike that threatens the U.S. economy — are looming over the final weeks of the presidential campaign and could help shape the public mood as voters decide between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.
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“This strike is about fairness," the vice president said in the Wednesday statement. “Foreign-owned shipping companies have made record profits and executive compensation has grown. The Longshoremen, who play a vital role transporting essential goods across America, deserve a fair share of these record profits.”
In the statement, she criticized her opponent, former President Donald Trump, as someone who wants to take the country “back to a time before workers had the freedom to organize.”
“Donald Trump makes empty promise after empty promise to American workers, but never delivers," Harris said. “He thinks our economy should only work for those who own the big skyscrapers, not those who actually build them.”
“I feel very strongly that U.S. Steel needs to remain a U.S. company, and that the people working there need to be American workers,” Harris during an interview with KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh.
It’s a position consistent with the White House.
Pressed on U.S. Steel saying it could be forced to move its headquarters from Pittsburgh and cut jobs if the deal doesn’t go through, Harris told the TV station that it's her “priority to keep jobs in Pittsburg.”
President Joe Biden has opposed the acquisition of U.S. Steel to a foreign entity and his administration has indicated it could move to block the sale amid a government review of it. Since taking over for Biden at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket, Harris has repeatedly taken a similar stance.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz is holding a bus tour through central Pennsylvania with stops in the capital of Harrisburg, as well as York, and Reading.
In York, he’s being joined by Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman for a rally. While on the tour, Walz plans to meet with labor organizers and leaders from rural areas and the Hispanic community.
Vice President Kamala Harris had originally been set to do the bus tour with Walz following Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate in New York, but she's instead heading to Georgia on Wednesday to see areas hard-hit by Hurricane Helene.
On Saturday, Walz has fundraisers scheduled for Cleveland and Cincinnati, then will head to California and Washington state. That swing will feature campaign stops in Reno, Nevada — a makeup for a planned trip in September that Walz scrapped because of wildfires -- and Arizona, where early voting will be kicking off.
The Harris campaign says Walz will also increase the number of media interviews he's doing post-debate, with an eye to reaching target voters across key demographics.
Over the past four years, President Joe Biden has jetted off to survey damage and console victims after tornadoes, wildfires and tropical storms. It’s not a role Kamala Harris has played as vice president.
But on Wednesday, they'll both fan out across the Southeast to grapple with the damage from Hurricane Helene, seeking to demonstrate commitment and competence in helping devastated communities after Donald Trump’s false claims about their administration’s response. Biden is heading to North and South Carolina, while Harris is going to Georgia.
Harris’ stop will also serve as a political test in the midst of a humanitarian crisis. She’s trying to step into the role for which Biden is best known — showing the empathy Americans expect in times of tragedy — in the closing stretch of her campaign for president.
Former President Donald Trump is going back to Butler, Pennsylvania, where the world saw him pump his fist and beseech followers to “fight,” even as blood streaked his face from a would-be assassin’s bullet.
In announcing his return, the current Republican nominee said he planned to “celebrate a unifying vision for America’s future in an event like the world has never seen before.”
The question is: Is Butler ready?
While many are predicting a large crowd to hear Trump speak back at the very Farm Show property where a bullet grazed his right ear on July 13, there's also apprehension in town, along with a sense that Butler is still healing.
This combination image shows Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, left, and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, right, during a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo)
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, talks with Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz after the vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Discovery World in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to members of the media, Tuesday Oct. 1, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
