Lawyer in big tobacco, asbestos cases headed to prison

OXFORD, Miss. - Famed anti-tobacco lawyer Richard "Dickie" Scruggs is headed to prison for five years for conspiring to bribe a judge.

Scruggs, 62, was sentenced today in a Mississippi federal court. He was also fined $250,000.

Scruggs gained fame in the 1990s by using a corporate insider against tobacco companies in lawsuits that resulted in a $206 billion settlement. That case was portrayed in the 1999 film The Insider.

Scruggs was indicted in November along with his son and a law partner after the FBI secretly recorded conversations about a plan to bribe a state court judge.

Scruggs and former law partner Sidney Backstrom pleaded guilty to conspiracy in March.

The judge handed down the full sentence requested by prosecutors. Scruggs must report to prison by Aug. 4.

Scruggs initially denied doing anything wrong, then pleaded guilty to conspiracy in a deal that will likely keep his son from being imprisoned. The deal came with a recommended five-year sentence.

Scruggs, the brother-in-law of former U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, gained prominence in the 1990s as one of the chief architects of the $206 billion nationwide tobacco settlements. That case was portrayed in the 1999 film The Insider, starring Al Pacino and Russell Crowe.

Scruggs was indicted on charges he conspired with his son and several associates to bribe Lafayette County Circuit Court Judge Henry Lackey for $50,000. Prosecutors said Scruggs wanted a favorable ruling in a dispute over $26.5 million in legal fees from a mass settlement of Hurricane Katrina insurance cases.

According to court records and testimony, Timothy Balducci, a lawyer and associate of Scruggs', went to see the judge, hoping their friendship could gain favor for Scruggs. The judge was uncomfortable with the situation and contacted federal authorities.

The FBI told the judge to ask for $40,000 in cash and then set up surveillance at the courthouse. Balducci was arrested after dropping off the last payment. Balducci agreed to cooperate with the FBI and returned to Scruggs' office. Balducci told Scruggs the judge wanted more money, discussed the way the judge's order should read and captured it all with a hidden recorder.

Scruggs' son, Zach Scruggs, pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, meaning he knew a crime was committed but didn't report it. He will be sentenced next week.

This might not be the end of "Dickie" Scruggs' legal problems.

His former defense lawyer, Joey Langston of Booneville, has pleaded guilty to trying to influence another judge and has implicated Scruggs in that case.

Langston claims Scruggs tried to influence Hinds County Judge Bobby DeLaughter in a dispute over asbestos fees by promising he could help DeLaughter get appointed to the federal bench with Lott's help.

DeLaughter, a former assistant district attorney, gained national attention by prosecuting Byron De La Beckwith in the early 1990s for the 1963 murder of NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers. The case was portrayed in the 1996 film Ghosts of Mississippi, with Alec Baldwin playing DeLaughter.

Scruggs and the others have not been charged in that case.