Legal News

Zach Scruggs Gets 14 Months, Though Gov?t Suggested Probation

By Dan Slater

This just in from Oxford: Judge Neal Biggers sentenced Zach Scruggs, son of Dickie, to 14 months in prison and a $250,000 fine. Earlier this year, Scruggs pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, meaning that he failed report a conspiracy by his father and law partners to bribe Mississippi Circuit Court Judge Henry Lackey.

Zach Scruggs and his wife, Amy, enter federal court in Oxford, Miss., July 2, 2008. (Credit: Associated Press/Bruce Newman)

According to this report in the Daily Mississippian, Judge Biggers said even though Dickie was the primary actor in the case, Zach was fully aware of what was going on. “It was clear that not only did you know what was going on, you were participating also,” Biggers reportedly told Zach.

Former Mississippi AG Mike Moore defended Scruggs, saying that Scruggs never knew of an attempt to corrupt a judge. But Biggers said one of the most negative things about Scruggs’s case was that Scruggs had declared his great love and respect for law. “Your actions have contradicted your words,” Biggers said.

According to the AP report, Zach’s sentence went far beyond the prosecutors’ recommendation of probation. The charge was misprision of a felony, which meant he had knowledge of a crime and didn’t report it.

Scruggs’s defense attorney reportedly plans to file a request to delay Zach’s incarceration date so he can stay with his wife until their third child is born, sometime in October. The facility where Scruggs will serve his time is currently undecided.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on July 02, 2008 (boomark / email).