BEAUFORT COUNTY, S.C. — Convicted South Carolina murderer Alex Murdaugh has entered a plea deal on multiple state financial crimes he was facing, in the process admitting to taking money from clients and defrauding his law firm.
Murdaugh appeared in court Friday, telling the judge he is pleading guilty to many financial crimes related to his time as a well-known lawyer in the Lowcountry of South Carolina as part of a negotiated deal with state prosecutors.
Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman, who also presided over his murder trial earlier this year, asked Murdaugh if he'd had enough time to think about making the plea before he came to court. "Yes sir I do, I've had a long time to think about it," he replied.
Newman still must accept the plea. That will happen at a hearing on Nov. 28, where victims of Murdaugh will have a chance to make statements to the judge.
Under the arrangement, Murdaugh would be sentenced to 27 years in prison and have to serve at least 85 percent of that term. He's already serving two life sentences on his murder convictions.
Murdaugh initially faced over 100 different charges in state court. Under the plea deal, he admitted to taking money from clients, his law firm, lying to his legal partners, and money laundering. Specifically, Murdaugh was accused of taking $8.8 million in legal settlements from clients who were badly injured or the families of those killed on the job, including the family housekeeper who died following a fall at the Murdaugh family home. He was also accused of stealing nearly $7 million from his law firm over nine years, during which he made almost $14 million.
In September, he pleaded guilty to similar financial crimes charges in federal court. That sentence will be served at the same time as the state charges.
Friday's decision comes a day after the South Carolina Supreme Court denied a motion by Murdaugh to delay his financial crimes trial or remove Judge Newman from the case.
Murdaugh is serving life without parole in a South Carolina prison for shooting and killing his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul. He has denied any role in the killings since their deaths in June 2021 and insisted he was innocent in two days of testimony earlier this year before he was convicted of two counts of murder.