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fat x nub said...

Holy balls what a track record:

At the conclusion of one of those Katrina-related trials, a fee dispute arose between Scruggs and other plaintiff's attorneys involved in the case. Vol lock. That fee dispute resulted in a separate trial to determine how to apportion the fees. According to allegations that later surfaced in a criminal prosecution, Scruggs was involved in an attempt to bribe Mississippi Third Circuit Court Judge Henry L. Lackey with $40,000 in exchange for a favorable ruling in the fee dispute.[1][2][18][2][10][19]Lackey reported the attempted bribe and cooperated with the investigation.[2]

Scruggs pleaded guilty in Federal Court on March 14, 2008.[20][21] On June 26, 2008, he was sentenced to five years in prison for the bribery charge.[22]

In a separate federal indictment, Scruggs was accused of attempting to improperly influence Mississippi judge Bobby DeLaughter.[23] On February 10, 2009, Scruggs pleaded guilty in federal court in Aberdeen, Mississippi, to one count of that indictment charging mail fraud in the corruption of a public official. That count carried a maximum penalty of 20 years/$250,000 fine.[24] Scruggs was sentenced to a seven-year term to run concurrently with the five-year sentence, adding two years to the total. He was also fined $100,000. Judge Glen H. Davidson imposed his sentence and quoted the Scottish philosopher William Barclay: “The Romans had a proverb that money was like sea water. The more you drink the thirstier you become.”[25]

John Grisham reported that Scruggs, while serving his sentence in federal prison, worked to help inmates get GED certificates, and expressed astonishment at the low level of literacy among the inmates. Scruggs took long walks with other white-collar inmates.[26] [27]

In December 2012, a federal judge granted Scruggs' motion to be released from prison on bail pending his appeal of the 2009 conviction.[28]