Dickie & Zach Scruggs Indicted on Bribery Charges

I was shocked a couple of minutes ago to see David Rossmiller pointing to this story in the Clarion-Ledger:

Multimillionaire trial lawyer Dickie Scruggs has been indicted on charges of conspiring to bribe a judge in the case involving $26.5-million in attorney fees involving Katrina claims.

Others indicted in the alleged scheme include Scruggs’ son, Zach, former State Auditor Steve Patterson and attorneys, Sidney Backstrom and Timothy Balducci.

According to the indictment, Lafayette County Circuit Judge Henry Lackey cooperated with the FBI in the investigation after reporting a bribery overture to authorities.

According to the indictment, Scruggs and others tried to influence Lackey by giving him $40,000 in cash to resolve the attorney fees’ dispute in favor of Scruggs’ law firm.

Some of the conversations between Balducci and Lackey were captured on tape.

Each are charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, coverting property and wire fraud. If convicted on all counts, each of those indicted face up to 75 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines.

Wow.

Wow, wow, wow!

I thought this sort of thing only happened in Louisiana. ;)   Now I know why I thought I heard giggling coming all the way from Bloomington, Illinois.