Sentencing date set for Alex Murdaugh on federal charges

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) - Disbarred Lowcountry attorney and convicted killer Alex Murdaugh is weeks away from learning his sentence on federal financial crimes.

Murdaugh, who was accused of stealing millions of dollars from his clients during his time as a lawyer, will learn his sentence in a hearing on April 1.

Murdaugh entered guilty pleas to 22 federal charges on Sept. 21.

“I want to take responsibility. I want my son to see me take responsibility,” Murdaugh told U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel. “It’s my hope by taking responsibility that people I’ve hurt can begin to heal.”

Murdaugh’s attorneys filed a plea deal on the various charges, which ranged from conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud to bank fraud and money laundering. As part of the deal, prosecutors would recommend Murdaugh’s sentence run concurrently with any sentence given to him on the state level for financial crimes.

Murdaugh will also be forced to pay restitution as set by the court.

“We’re pleased to report that Alex feels good about this, and obviously, he’ll be sentenced for it,” defense attorney Dick Harpootlian said after the guilty pleas. “And it’ll be substantial time but he will accept that.”

“We’ll say this: That there’s been a lot of sneering and skepticism about ‘Did Alex have a drug addiction?’” defense attorney Jim Griffin said after that hearing. “So Judge Gergel and the probation officer who does a pre-sentence report will be given all those records and they will make a determination as part of the sentencing.”

Prosecutor Emily Limehouse called Murdaugh’s crimes “calculated and heartless,” calling his plea “a product of nearly two years of investigative work by the FBI and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.”

“Our goal in holding him able for the financial crimes in federal court is to ensure that he’s never a free man again,” she said.

Murdaugh was convicted in March 2023 of the June 2021 shooting deaths of his wife, Maggie; and their son, Paul, at the family’s hunting property in rural Colleton County. After a six-week trial during which Murdaugh insisted he did not kill his wife and son, a jury deliberated for just under three hours before reaching a unanimous verdict.

Former South Carolina Chief Justice Jean Toal, who is now overseeing all of Murdaugh’s cases, denied the defense team’s motion for a new murder trial on Jan. 29.

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