Legal Ethics
Zach Scruggs Gets a Prison Sentence Instead of Probation
Posted Jul 2, 2008, 10:48 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
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.
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Comments
Posted by associate - 5 months, 2 days, 11 hours, 5 minutes ago
This judge should have thought ahead. The guy plead guilty to not reporting a plot in exchange for a probation recommendation. I wonder how many others will plead guilty to something more serious in this judge’s courtroom now. You could easily make the case that it would be malpractice to ever recommend that a client take a prosecutor’s deal in front of this judge now.
Posted by Cj - 5 months, 2 days, 4 hours, 57 minutes ago
More likely it would be malpractice for the defense attorney to fail to have a clause in the plea agreement that says that in the event a harsher sentence is imposed, the plea can be withdrawn. Isn’t that standard procedure?
Posted by kay sieverding - 4 months, 4 weeks, 21 hours, 27 minutes ago
I don’t have a criminal record but I was sent to jail anyway for the offense of not having a lawyer when I engaged in civil litigation. While I was there I tried to learn about criminal justice. I met a gal who told me she plea bargained to 10 years but got 20 anyway. No one was helping her.