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In a significant development related to the notorious Alex Murdaugh case, a former banker who collaborated with the convicted murderer has been sentenced for his role in a series of financial crimes. Russell Laffitte, the former CEO of Palmetto State Bank, was handed a 13-year state prison sentence by a South Carolina judge on Monday, as reported by FOX 57.
Laffitte’s sentencing follows his guilty plea to eight felony charges. Prosecutors revealed that Laffitte abused his positions as a court-appointed conservator for Murdaugh’s personal injury clients and as the head of Palmetto State Bank. He orchestrated fraudulent transfers exceeding million, channeling these funds to both Murdaugh and himself. These illicit transactions were disguised as “loans,” and Laffitte further enriched himself by collecting substantial conservator fees from his victims without performing the necessary fiduciary duties.
Meanwhile, Alex Murdaugh, who was convicted of the June 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, appeared in court for a retrial motion hearing in January 2024 at the Richland County Judicial Center in Columbia, South Carolina.
The sentence comes after prosecutors said Laffitte exploited his roles as a court-appointed conservator for Murdaugh’s personal injury clients and chief of Palmetto State Bank to funnel over $2 million in fraudulent transfers from clients to Murdaugh and himself, the outlet reported. Laffitte would then label the transfers as “loans,” while also cashing in on tens of thousands in conservator fees from his victims without providing basic fiduciary services.
Alex Murdaugh, convicted of killing his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul, in June 2021, sits during a hearing on a motion for a retrial, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, at the Richland County Judicial Center in Columbia, S.C.
Prosecutors reportedly revealed Laffitte’s misappropriation of funds allowed Murdaugh to pay off fraudulent loans and personal debts, further cementing that his assistance was pivotal in allowing Murdaugh to keep his financial crimes in motion over the course of several years.
“Laffitte was responsible for loaning so much money to Murdaugh that Murdaugh became too big to fail,” prosecutor Creighton Waters said, according to FOX 57. “Alex was so much in hock to Russell that Russell was in hock to Alex.”
Waters did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Murdaugh is currently serving life in prison for the 2021 shotgun murders of his wife and son on the family’s sprawling Lowcountry estate.
