Zach Scruggs Gets a Prison Sentence Instead of Probation

The son of legendary lawyer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs has been sentenced to 14 months in prison for failing to report a judge bribery plot that involved his father.

Zach Scruggs was sentenced today by the Mississippi federal judge who sentenced his father to five years in prison, the Associated Press reports.

Prosecutors had recommended probation when Zach Scruggs pleaded guilty more than a month ago, and many courtroom observers appeared surprised by the sentence, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports.

Senior Judge Neal Biggers Jr. imposed the prison sentence and ordered the younger Scruggs to pay a $250,000 fine. He said he will consider a request to delay Scruggs’ sentence until October, after the birth of his third child.