Legal News

Scruggs Pleads Guilty (Again) . . . And Some Wisdom From the Romans

By Ashby Jones

In recent weeks, while our eyes have been focused largely on Washington and the federal prosecutors’ office in New York, things have quietly been humming right along down in northern Mississippi. That’s where prosecutors seem to be building a bribery case involving a judge named Bobby DeLaughter. The latest person to cop a plea and cooperate in the deal: our old friend Dickie Scruggs.

For those new to the Internet, Scruggs is a famed plaintiffs lawyer who last year pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe a different Mississippi judge and is currently serving a 5-year sentence in a Kentucky federal prison.

On Tuesday, Scruggs made an appearance in federal court in Aberdeen, Miss., (reportedly dressed in a natty suit and leg shackles), to plead guilty in the DeLaughter matter. He admitted he was involved in a scheme to entice Judge DeLaughter to rule in his favor in an asbestos case by promising he’d be appointed to the federal bench with help from Scruggs’s brother-in-law, former U.S. Senator Trent Lott. Click here for the AP story; here for the Jackson Clarion-Ledger story; here for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal’s story; here for a nice roundup from a blog called folo; and here for another nice narrative from Yall Politics.

Scruggs was sentenced Tuesday to a seven-year term that will run at the same time as his current sentence, basically adding two years to the total. He was also fined $100,000. “I acknowledge and own up fully to my role and responsibility,” Scruggs told the court. “I’m going to do everything I can to make it as right as I can. I’m going to cooperate fully with federal authorities.”

Neither Trent Lott nor Judge DeLaughter have been charged with wrongdoing, and both have denied wrongdoing. But prosecutors are reportedly working on an indictment that could corral several others. According to press accounts, such an indictment could hit soon.

Law Blog Quote From Antiquity of the Day: Judge Glen Davidson, in imposing his sentence, reportedly 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.”

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on February 11, 2009 (boomark / email).