Alleged accomplice accused of helping disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh enters plea deal
A former banker and alleged accomplice of disgraced legal scion, Alex Murdaugh, has agreed to a guilty plea in helping with some of his financial crimes.
Court records obtained by WCIV show that Russell Laffitte pleaded guilty to several federal fraud charges last week and will spend five years in prison.
The records show that Laffitte also agreed to pay $3,555,884.80 in criminal restitution. Additionally, the former bank CEO will not be allowed to work at any federally insured bank or credit union without prior consent.
At the time of the crimes, Laffitte served as the CEO of Palmetto State Bank and allegedly used his position to carry out the schemes. He also acted as the conservator or financial representative for Murdaugh's personal injury clients.
Laffitte's family founded the bank in 1907 in the same rural town of Hampton, South Carolina, where the Murdaugh's too would rise to prominence.
During his earlier testimony, Laffitte claimed that he simply did what Murdaugh asked of him and was not aware of the lawyer's alleged schemes.
In 2022, a jury convicted Laffitte of helping Murdaugh steal around $2 million from clients.
Laffitte was sentenced nearly seven months after the conviction to seven years in prison and was ordered to pay $3.5 million in restitution.
However, Laffitte's sentence was overturned in November 2024 when an appellate court determined that, during his trial, the removal of two jurors was mishandled and violated Laffitte's Fifth Amendment rights.
Laffitte was fired from the bank shortly after the allegations came to light that he helped Murdaugh and Murdaugh's lawyer friend and college roommate, Cory Fleming, steal from a legal client named Hakeem L. Pinckney, a deaf athlete rendered a quadriplegic following a rollover car accident that seriously injured his family members.
A judge ordered Murdaugh and Fleming to pay millions to an insurance company in January 2025 after they conspired to steal about $4 million in insurance funds from his housekeeper's family following her death.
Murdaugh's housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, apparently tripped and fell on the front steps of the Murdaughs' home on their South Carolina hunting estate, Moselle, and died later in a hospital.
The $4 million Murdaugh stole from the Satterfield family is part of the 100 financial crimes charges filed against Murdaugh involving millions in stolen funds from his former law firm clients.
Murdaugh had previously been ordered to serve 40 years for his financial crimes in federal court and 27 years for his financial crimes in state court.
Those sentences came on top of his life sentence for killing his wife, Maggie, and youngest son, Paul, in 2021.
A Colleton County jury found the disgraced lawyer guilty of shooting Maggie and Paul near dog kennels on the family's hunting estate in June of that year. Prosecutors say he was trying to create a distraction from his mounting financial crimes, which were beginning to come to light around that time.
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com
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