Murdaugh is accused of cheating the estate of Satterfield's mother, Gloria Satterfield, out of a more than $4 million settlement. He
agreed this month to plead guilty to 22 counts of financial crimes, including money laundering, fraud and breach of trust, related to the Satterfield estate and other schemes perpetrated over more than a decade.
Circuit Judge Clifton Newman accepted Murdaugh's plea Tuesday and a 27-year prison sentence agreed upon by state prosecutors and Murdaugh's defense team. As part of a deal, it will run at the same time as Murdaugh's federal sentence for similar financial crimes that he
pleaded guilty to in September.
Murdaugh is already serving two consecutive life sentences for the fatal shootings of his wife, Margaret, and their younger son, Paul, in June 2021.
"It is unimaginable to me that you have done some of the things you have done," Newman told Murdaugh. "Whether it is you or someone you become upon using drugs or the process of committing crimes over and over, I don't know. I don't even know who I am speaking to now."
While prosecutors focused on a narrow set of crimes, they allege the case actually spans 101 financial-related offenses, and an alleged loss of $8.8 million to those affected by Murdaugh's deception.
www.nbcnews.com
