updated 1:15 p.m. ET, Fri., March. 14, 2008
JACKSON, Miss. - Powerful plaintiffs attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs and a co-defendant pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to bribe a judge for a favorable ruling in a case involving legal fees from a post-Hurricane Katrina lawsuit.
The surprise plea came Friday during a hearing in Oxford, Miss., on pretrial matters, court officials said. His trial was set to begin at the end of the month.
Scruggs, 61, and co-defendant Sidney Backstrom both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States. Scruggs' law partner and son, Zach, also is charged in the case but did not enter a plea and is expected to go to trial.
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Prosecutors said they would recommend five years in prison for Scruggs and 2 1/2 for Backstrom, penalties significantly lower than what they could have faced.
One of the best-known trial lawyers in the country, Scruggs was indicted along with his son and three associates in November.
Scruggs helped negotiate the multibillion-dollar tobacco settlement in the 1990s, working with whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand, a former tobacco company scientist. The actor Colm Feore played Scruggs in the 1999 movie about the case, "The Insider," starring Al Pacino and Russell Crowe.
Scruggs and the others were accused of conspiring to pay a Lafayette County Circuit Court judge $50,000 for a favorable ruling in a dispute over $26.5 million in legal fees from a mass settlement of Hurricane Katrina cases.
Judge Henry L. Lackey reported a bribe overture to the FBI and worked undercover. Two of the men who were indicted, attorney Timothy Balducci and former Mississippi State Auditor Steve Patterson, pleaded guilty and began working with the prosecution.
Scruggs is a brother-in-law of Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott and has made millions from tobacco and asbestos litigation.
JACKSON, Miss. - Powerful plaintiffs attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs and a co-defendant pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to bribe a judge for a favorable ruling in a case involving legal fees from a post-Hurricane Katrina lawsuit.
The surprise plea came Friday during a hearing in Oxford, Miss., on pretrial matters, court officials said. His trial was set to begin at the end of the month.
Scruggs, 61, and co-defendant Sidney Backstrom both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States. Scruggs' law partner and son, Zach, also is charged in the case but did not enter a plea and is expected to go to trial.
Story continues below ↓advertisement
Prosecutors said they would recommend five years in prison for Scruggs and 2 1/2 for Backstrom, penalties significantly lower than what they could have faced.
One of the best-known trial lawyers in the country, Scruggs was indicted along with his son and three associates in November.
Scruggs helped negotiate the multibillion-dollar tobacco settlement in the 1990s, working with whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand, a former tobacco company scientist. The actor Colm Feore played Scruggs in the 1999 movie about the case, "The Insider," starring Al Pacino and Russell Crowe.
Scruggs and the others were accused of conspiring to pay a Lafayette County Circuit Court judge $50,000 for a favorable ruling in a dispute over $26.5 million in legal fees from a mass settlement of Hurricane Katrina cases.
Judge Henry L. Lackey reported a bribe overture to the FBI and worked undercover. Two of the men who were indicted, attorney Timothy Balducci and former Mississippi State Auditor Steve Patterson, pleaded guilty and began working with the prosecution.
Scruggs is a brother-in-law of Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott and has made millions from tobacco and asbestos litigation.
