Image credit: The Oxford [Mississippi] Heritage SocietySince I was obsessing about FISA reform and other issues yesterday, I completely missed this item:
As has been posted, this morning in open court, Richard Scruggs and Sid Backstrom pled guilty to conspiracy to bribe a state court judge. This was a remarkable and sad event... Here’s at summary level what occurred:
* Richard Scruggs is pleading to conspiracy to bribe a state court judge, count 1 of the indictment, with other counts to be dismissed. This was an open plea, that is, no recommended sentence.
* The government expects that he will get the full five year sentence on that count.
* Scruggs is still in jeopardy from the investigation into whether the judge was bribed in Wilson v. Scruggs. Prosecutor Tom Dawson said: “I want to make it painfully clear as to the investigation with respect to the Wilson case: This has no effect on a subsequent investigation as to that case.” Reading between the lines, I would take it to mean that the Scruggs plea only resolves his exposure on the Lackey bribe issue. That is remarkable.
From the courtroom with the Scruggs guilty pleas
[links are mine]
That's the report yesterday from nmisscommenter, A.K.A. NMC, who was at the court yesterday. Wilson Vs. Scruggs was another case that Scruggs is alleged to have tried to bribe a judge for a favorable settlement in a dispute over legal fees. If only there were a pattern to these crimes ...
In any event, Lotus and NMC are all over this. Check out Folo for all the latest developments. The server went down yesterday, so things may be a bit of a mess for a while, but check back later if it is.
No comments:
Post a Comment