A federal appeals court has rejected Alex Murdaugh’s bid for a new sentence.
Murdaugh “knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to appeal” by pleading guilty to multiple counts, including money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit said on Oct. 1.
Murdaugh pleaded guilty to 22 federal counts for financial crimes, and in April, a federal judge sentenced him to 480 months, or 40 years, in prison.
Murdaugh appealed, arguing the sentence was improperly handed down without a proportionality review analyzing the gravity of the offenses and the harshness of the penalty. That violated his rights under the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment, he argued….