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Dickie Scruggs 
 
Junior Scruggs also gets prison time
Editor's note: This story will be updated later Wednesday.

OXFORD, Miss. (Legal Newsline) - Despite recommendations for only probation, Zach Scruggs, the son of famed plaintiffs attorney and admitted felon Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, was sentenced to prison Wednesday.

For his role in a judicial bribery scheme that resulted in five years imprisonment for his father, Zach will spend 14 months in prison. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge than Dickie.

Both federal prosecutors and Zach's defense attorneys asked for probation, but U.S. District Judge Neal Biggers stayed on the tough side. Dickie Scruggs received the maximum sentence allowed under his plea agreement, while fellow Scruggs Law Firm member Sidney Backstrom received a 28-month sentence. His max was three years.

All three were ordered to pay a $250,000 fine.

More than 600 Hurricane Katrina cases were settled early in 2007, earning a Scruggs enterprise $26.5 million in attorneys fees. John Griffin Jones filed suit against Scruggs, claiming his firm was shortchanged when the money was divided.

Scruggs admitted that he gave the go-ahead for attorney Timothy Balducci to offer $50,000 to Lackey for a ruling that would have sent the dispute to an arbitration panel. Balducci pleaded guilty in November to the scheme, and his business partner Steven Patterson, a former state Auditor, soon followed.

Lackey contacted the FBI soon after Balducci's first mention of a bribe. Scruggs agreed to a maximum prison sentence of five years, pleading guilty to a conspiracy charge while the other five were dropped.

Son Zach pleaded guilty misprision of a felony, meaning he knew about the scheme but did nothing to prevent it.

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MORE NEWS HEADLINES:
+ Biden donates Scruggs' contributions to charity - 8/23  
+ Scruggs begins 5-year sentence - 8/4  
+ Scruggs didn't deny State Farm attorney's allegations - 8/4  
+ Former U.S. senator again surfaces in Scruggs probe - 7/31  
+ Scruggses want testimony sealed - 7/29  
+ Scruggses split up, all set for prison time - 7/23  
+ Scruggs scheme co-conspirator receives prison of choice - 7/17  
+ A month from prison, Scruggs still bickering over attorneys fees - 7/8  
+ Junior Scruggs' tongue to blame for prison sentence - 7/3  
+ Junior Scruggs also gets prison time - 7/2  


IN THE SPOTLIGHT:
Friday, August 29, 2008
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Legal Newsline) - When House Bill 104 passed during the first Special Session of this year's state Legislature, it did so with little fanfare. Yet it represents to date the single act of oversight the Legislature has enacted over the state Attorney General's office.

Read more...


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