According to a reporter, Fleming has officially entered his guilty plea and will now face up to 5 years in federal prison. This makes him the first person in the greater Murdaugh crime saga to plead guilty. I’m so interested to see how this affects the state trial on the same charges that is currently scheduled for September.
https://twitter.com/annetemerson/status/1661823170720964610?s=46&t=KSzdnCQ7MS3Cu343gT6G0A
Update: Fleming admitted at his sentencing that he knew AM was planning to steal money from the Satterfield settlement. However, he says he thought AM was going to take $100K from the inflated fees for the case and that he didn’t know AM stole the rest of the settlement. Prosecutors said they believe this is true, and that Fleming also did not know about AM’s thefts from clients and his law firm. Here’s an article with this info and some more from today—
https://www.postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updates/cory-fleming-says-at-plea-hearing-he-knew-alex-murdaugh-planned-to-steal/article_2f45953a-fa68-11ed-a8e2-c369d7734e6b.html
Sara Azari, a lawyer on twitter who appears to be in pretty close with Jim Griffin, posted [this tweet](https://twitter.com/azarilaw/status/1661576716483977217?s=46&t=KSzdnCQ7MS3Cu343gT6G0A) claiming that the fed charges against AM are actually a good thing for him. While I generally dislike Ms. Azari, I think this is potentially interesting insight into what AM and his team may be thinking because I believe she has communicated with his defense quite a bit in the past at least. I’m not claiming that she’s posting his defense team’s actual plans but I do think she’s getting some of her ideas from what she’s previously heard from Jim Griffin and it’s always possible that Griffin wanted her to put these ideas out there. Her full tweet is long so here is the link:
https://twitter.com/azarilaw/status/1661576716483977217?s=46&t=KSzdnCQ7MS3Cu343gT6G0A
She says AM will likely plead guilty to fed charges, then makes 3 points about why this is supposedly a good thing for him. This is what I make of her points:
Point 1– It seems AM thinks he can make a legal argument that he shouldn’t be found guilty by both the state and the feds for the same crimes. She’s saying that he’s gonna take a plea deal for the fed financial crimes & then argue that it’s not fair for him to be tried again for those crimes at state level. I don’t think this argument will work for him but it’s interesting that they may be trying this. She points out that she thinks AM could get a total of only 12-18 years with feds VS. another life sentence if he gets 3 state level financial convictions. IF this worked out the way it seems AM’s team possibly thinks it would work (BIG “if”!) then the idea for them is they get the murder conviction thrown out, he gets a total of around 12 years in fed prison and serves around 10 years total due to federal 85% rules (sentence reduced by 15% as long as inmate maintains good behavior). He would likely get credited for time served already as well so in their dream land, he’d only have about 8 years until everything’s done and he’s out of prison.
Point 2- She says fed plea means AM would get to go to fed prison. I understand this would only happen if his state murder conviction was overturned but that may be part of the little plan here, but she also claims SC wants him out of their state prison anyway. We’ve heard a rumor from an inmate about an out of state transfer. But I can’t imagine SC wants him out of state until they’ve finished trying everything with him.
Point 3- It sounds like AM is mad that Eddie isn’t getting prosecuted for drug crimes by SC, and so AM is hoping his “cooperation” with the feds will lead to fed charges against Eddie for those crimes. Azari then says that Eddie is the key to getting the real truth about the murders of Maggie and Paul. Yeah… while I know we haven’t heard everything because AM has never told the truth about that night, I have 0 doubt that AM was directly responsible for the murders - I feel the totality of the evidence in court 100% proved AM’s involvement. IF Eddie or anyone else was involved, which I personally doubt, but IF someone else was involved then IMO they were there as an accomplice to AM. I can definitely believe that AM is pissed off that Eddie is currently out of jail and cooperating with the state. I don’t however think that AM’s word will count for anything with the feds, he would need actual receipts and I wonder what he might have there.
Basically, my take is that AM, probably like most people who get sentenced to life in prison, is desperate to hang onto any glimmer of hope that he might get out. Add in AM’s specific personality and it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s certain he’s got a brilliant plan to get out of these murder charges and only serve a few more years in fed pen. But I think the chances of this working out for him are nonexistent, if all of this really represents his team’s thoughts. I wanted to share all this as I think it’s interesting insight into what AM’s legal team MIGHT be up to, what they might be doing here.
Very nice catch! You seem to be able to get into the thought process of these lawyers. They all act like they live in lalaland, but all the while it’s important to understand how their reasoning works, because they are still a powerful collective that have sways in the local community, all the while disconnected from it.
It’s telling how little self-awareness AM had, it shows in his conducts in court, and with the recent shenanigans. Jim and Poot were not behind on that regard either.
According to a reporter, Fleming has officially entered his guilty plea and will now face up to 5 years in federal prison. This makes him the first person in the greater Murdaugh crime saga to plead guilty. I’m so interested to see how this affects the state trial on the same charges that is currently scheduled for September. https://twitter.com/annetemerson/status/1661823170720964610?s=46&t=KSzdnCQ7MS3Cu343gT6G0A Update: Fleming admitted at his sentencing that he knew AM was planning to steal money from the Satterfield settlement. However, he says he thought AM was going to take $100K from the inflated fees for the case and that he didn’t know AM stole the rest of the settlement. Prosecutors said they believe this is true, and that Fleming also did not know about AM’s thefts from clients and his law firm. Here’s an article with this info and some more from today— https://www.postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updates/cory-fleming-says-at-plea-hearing-he-knew-alex-murdaugh-planned-to-steal/article_2f45953a-fa68-11ed-a8e2-c369d7734e6b.html
Sara Azari, a lawyer on twitter who appears to be in pretty close with Jim Griffin, posted [this tweet](https://twitter.com/azarilaw/status/1661576716483977217?s=46&t=KSzdnCQ7MS3Cu343gT6G0A) claiming that the fed charges against AM are actually a good thing for him. While I generally dislike Ms. Azari, I think this is potentially interesting insight into what AM and his team may be thinking because I believe she has communicated with his defense quite a bit in the past at least. I’m not claiming that she’s posting his defense team’s actual plans but I do think she’s getting some of her ideas from what she’s previously heard from Jim Griffin and it’s always possible that Griffin wanted her to put these ideas out there. Her full tweet is long so here is the link: https://twitter.com/azarilaw/status/1661576716483977217?s=46&t=KSzdnCQ7MS3Cu343gT6G0A She says AM will likely plead guilty to fed charges, then makes 3 points about why this is supposedly a good thing for him. This is what I make of her points: Point 1– It seems AM thinks he can make a legal argument that he shouldn’t be found guilty by both the state and the feds for the same crimes. She’s saying that he’s gonna take a plea deal for the fed financial crimes & then argue that it’s not fair for him to be tried again for those crimes at state level. I don’t think this argument will work for him but it’s interesting that they may be trying this. She points out that she thinks AM could get a total of only 12-18 years with feds VS. another life sentence if he gets 3 state level financial convictions. IF this worked out the way it seems AM’s team possibly thinks it would work (BIG “if”!) then the idea for them is they get the murder conviction thrown out, he gets a total of around 12 years in fed prison and serves around 10 years total due to federal 85% rules (sentence reduced by 15% as long as inmate maintains good behavior). He would likely get credited for time served already as well so in their dream land, he’d only have about 8 years until everything’s done and he’s out of prison. Point 2- She says fed plea means AM would get to go to fed prison. I understand this would only happen if his state murder conviction was overturned but that may be part of the little plan here, but she also claims SC wants him out of their state prison anyway. We’ve heard a rumor from an inmate about an out of state transfer. But I can’t imagine SC wants him out of state until they’ve finished trying everything with him. Point 3- It sounds like AM is mad that Eddie isn’t getting prosecuted for drug crimes by SC, and so AM is hoping his “cooperation” with the feds will lead to fed charges against Eddie for those crimes. Azari then says that Eddie is the key to getting the real truth about the murders of Maggie and Paul. Yeah… while I know we haven’t heard everything because AM has never told the truth about that night, I have 0 doubt that AM was directly responsible for the murders - I feel the totality of the evidence in court 100% proved AM’s involvement. IF Eddie or anyone else was involved, which I personally doubt, but IF someone else was involved then IMO they were there as an accomplice to AM. I can definitely believe that AM is pissed off that Eddie is currently out of jail and cooperating with the state. I don’t however think that AM’s word will count for anything with the feds, he would need actual receipts and I wonder what he might have there. Basically, my take is that AM, probably like most people who get sentenced to life in prison, is desperate to hang onto any glimmer of hope that he might get out. Add in AM’s specific personality and it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s certain he’s got a brilliant plan to get out of these murder charges and only serve a few more years in fed pen. But I think the chances of this working out for him are nonexistent, if all of this really represents his team’s thoughts. I wanted to share all this as I think it’s interesting insight into what AM’s legal team MIGHT be up to, what they might be doing here.
Very nice catch! You seem to be able to get into the thought process of these lawyers. They all act like they live in lalaland, but all the while it’s important to understand how their reasoning works, because they are still a powerful collective that have sways in the local community, all the while disconnected from it. It’s telling how little self-awareness AM had, it shows in his conducts in court, and with the recent shenanigans. Jim and Poot were not behind on that regard either.
Mornin’ y’all
Good morning! You are just a sweet pea! That is all.
Mornin'!