Judge sentences Murdaugh accomplice to jail in system to swipe from caretaker’s household

CHARLESTON, S.C.– A government court punished a previous South Carolina attorney to virtually 4 years behind bars on Tuesday in a plan to swipe cash from the estate of Alex Murdaugh’s caretaker.

U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel punished Cory Fleming to 46 months. He begged guilty this year to one matter of conspiracy theory to devote cord scams.

Fleming fulfilled founded guilty dual killer Alex Murdaugh at the University of South Carolina, where they finished from regulation institution in the mid-1990s.

In 2018, Murdaugh’s long time caretaker, Gloria Satterfield, passed away from injuries after a noticeable drop the actions at the household’s 1,700-acre home exteriorHampton

Murdaugh informed Satterfield’s 2 children that his pets were responsible for the autumn and also assured to look after them economically in a civil suit in which he would certainly be the accused.

He’d asked Fleming to represent her children in the fit and also guided him to bring an insurance claim versus him in regard to the case.

Insurance resolved the situation, and also Fleming took control of the funds. Fleming after that “submitted a fraudulent disbursement sheet to the circuit court” describing “Prosecution Expenses,” of which there were none, according to billing files.

Fleming later on released checks from added insurance coverage payments to a phony account Murdaugh produced, and also both drawn away those funds for individual usage, according to the files.

In May 2022, Murdaugh authorized an admission of judgment confessing to the system to rip off Satterfield’s children out of $4.3 million– the complete insurance coverage payment.

Ahead of Tuesday’s sentencing, Fleming’s attorney Deborah Barbier sent 62 personality letters created by pals, household and also homeowners of the neighboring community of Beaufort on his part.

Members of Satterfield’s household attended to the court regarding their mommy’s fatality and also Fleming’s function in the system.

Ginger Hadwin, Satterfield’s sibling, attended to Fleming straight, claiming that “as a Christian I forgive you, but I will never forget.”

Pamela Pinckney, a lady that was ripped off two times in a plan supposedly including Murdaugh and also Fleming, as soon as after a cars and truck wreckage and also later on after her kid passed away, likewise attended to the court.

“I want to look at you and let you know that I forgive you,” Pinckney said.

Her lawyer, Justin Bamberg, reminded the court that Fleming’s actions to defraud victims took place over a number of years. The judge responded that “Alex was the train conductor, but people joined the crew and were rewarded for it.”

Fleming apologized to family members, members of his community and former colleagues in the South Carolina Bar Association, saying he had “taken a hard look in the mirror and did not like what [he] saw back.”

In his statement, he also addressed the Satterfield and Pinckney families — acknowledging that he knew that his apology would most likely not be sufficient and that he had let them down. He became emotional when he addressed his wife, children and parents and promised he’d spend the rest of his life making up for his actions.

Prosecutors noted that Fleming had been one of the only Murdaugh co-conspirators to cooperate with the government and admit his mistake in relation to the scheme, and they recommended the 46-month sentence that the judge ultimately handed down.

He is the second associate of Murdaugh’s to be sent to prison since investigators began scrutinizing every aspect of his life in June 2021 after his wife and son were shot to death at their home.

Fleming was voluntarily taken into custody by two U.S. marshals at the end of the hearing. He still faces state charges in relation to the Satterfield and Pinckney cases.

The state sentencing is scheduled for the fall, and the judge ordered his federal and state sentences to run concurrently. 

Murdaugh still faces more than 100 charges in state and federal courts on allegations from stealing from clients and his family’s law firm to running a drug and money laundering ring to tax evasion to unsuccessfully arranging for someone to kill him so his surviving son could get life insurance money.