Convicted family killer Alex Murdaugh was handed even more prison time after pleading guilty in federal court to dozens of financial crimes, tacking decades onto his current sentence.
A federal judge in South Carolina on Monday sentenced Murdaugh, 55, to 40 years in prison for nearly two dozen charges of conspiracy, fraud, and money laundering, according to CNN.
Murdaugh pleaded guilty to these charges last year.
Prosecutors say Murdaugh, who is now a disbarred attorney, defrauded personal injury clients and his own firm of millions of dollars.
In 2021, Murdaugh was convicted of killing his wife Maggie and 22-year-old son Paul, deaths which prosecutors said were attempts to distract from his financial crimes, CNN reported.
U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel said Monday that he handed Murdaugh a longer sentence than the 17 1/2 to 22 years suggested by the federal agents because Murdaugh stole from "the most needy, vulnerable people," according to the Associated Press.
His victims included a client who became a quadriplegic after a crash, a state trooper hurt on the job, and a trust fund meant for children whose parents died in a wreck.
"They placed all their problems and all their hopes on Mr. Murdaugh and it is from those people he abused and stole," Gergel reportedly said. "It is a difficult set of actions to understand."
Murdaugh must also pay nearly $9 million in restitution.
The 22 federal counts marked the final charges outstanding for Murdaugh, who just three years ago was a powerful lawyer hailing from a family influential in South Carolina's Hampton County.
Murdaugh again apologized to his victims, reportedly saying he felt "guilt, sorrow, shame, embarrassment, humiliation."
He reiterated an offer to meet with his victims, to hear them out and allow them to "more closely inspect my sincerity," according to the AP.
"There's not enough time and I don't possess a sufficient vocabulary to adequately portray to you in words the magnitude of how I feel about the things I did," he said.
