Charleston, South Carolina – The conservator for Alex Murdaugh’s money pled guilty in state court on Thursday.
Russell Laffette, the former CEO of Palmetto State Bank, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, as well as three charges of misapplication of bank funds, in April.
He pleaded guilty to various state crimes and agreed to pay approximately $3.5 million in restitution with bank stocks he owned as part of his guilty plea.
He could face up to eight years in prison on state counts, followed by five years on parole.
In 2011, Laffitte allegedly borrowed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Murdaugh and himself from clients Murdaugh represented.
“This was the first main way that Alex Murdaugh was able to steal money from his clients and he depended on Russell Kaffitte to do it,” Creighton Waters, the prosecution’s attorney, said. “The second was that he could draw a check from the law firm trust account payable to Palmetto State Bank.” He could offer it to Russell Laffitte, who would then do whatever was necessary to transform it for Alex’s benefit.
In 2022, a jury convicted Laffitte of helping Murdaugh in the theft of approximately $2 million in court settlements. Judge Richard Gergel was on the bench during the trial and sentenced him to seven years in jail and $3.5 million in restitution in August 2023. He ended up spending 13 months of the sentence.
However, in November 2024, an appellate court overturned the sentence after determining that Gergel had bungled the dismissal of the two jurors.
He is scheduled to enter a plea deal for federal crimes on Monday and be sentenced for state charges on October 13.
