An accomplice to convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh's financial misdeeds gets seven years in prison

abcnews.go.com:

The former CEO of a respected South Carolina bank will spend seven years in federal prison for helping Alex Murdaugh steal nearly $2 million from clients' legal settlements

The man who once headed a highly respected bank in the South Carolina Lowcountry will spend seven years in federal prison for helping convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh steal nearly $2 million from clients' legal settlements.

Russell Laffitte was sentenced Tuesday after a jury found him guilty of six charges related to wire and bank fraud back in November. The ex-CEO of Palmetto State Bank became the first of the disgraced former attorney's accomplices to face prison time following the June 2021 shooting deaths that stemmed from sprawling investigations into the Murdaugh family finances.

The prosecution and defense also agreed that Laffitte will forfeit more than $85,000, local media reported. The former banker has said he will appeal the decision.

Murdaugh is serving life without parole for killing his wife, Maggie, and their son, Paul, at the kennels on their 1,700-acre rural estate. Still outstanding are more than 100 other charges encompassing alleged financial crimes from insurance fraud to tax evasion. His trial this winter marked the swift fall from grace for a powerful family whose members served over 80 years straight as the elected prosecutors in tiny Hampton County.

Laffitte similarly came from a prominent family that had built an upstanding reputation for Palmetto State Bank. The Independent Banks of South Carolina even honored Laffitte as the banker of the year in 2019.

But that good standing tanked over his actions as the court-appointed safeguard for settlement money that Murdaugh won for some of his most vulnerable clients. Prosecutors