Alex Murdaugh Blames Addiction as He's Sentenced to 40 Years in Federal Prison for Stealing from Clients

Alex Murdaugh previously received two life sentences in state prison for murdering his wife and son, and an additional 27-year sentence for financial crimes

Convicted killer and disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh was sentenced on Monday to 40 years in federal prison for multiple fraud schemes to steal from his clients.

Murdaugh pleaded guilty in September to money laundering, wire fraud and bank fraud, per NBC News.  In addition to the federal sentence, Murdaugh was previously sentenced to 27 years in state prison for a slew of financial crimes, included money laundering, breach of trust and financial fraud.

His federal sentence will run concurrently with his state prison time, the Associated Press reported.

Murdaugh, a once prominent attorney in the South Carolina Lowcountry region, is currently serving two life sentences in state prison for the June 2021 murders of his wife Maggie, 52, and son Paul, 22.

At the sentencing in a federal courthouse in Charleston, S.C., U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel said Murdaugh took advantage of “the most needy, vulnerable people,” the AP reported.

“They placed all their problems and all their hopes on Mr. Murdaugh and it is from those people he abused and stole. It is a difficult set of actions to understand,” Gergel said, per AP.

Related: 'Modern-Day Monster' Alex Murdaugh Pleads Guilty to 22 Financial Crimes Ahead of Trial

Murdaugh claimed at sentencing that he was "filled with sorrow and am filled with guilt over the things that I did," per NBC News.

"I do believe that my addiction contributed to me doing some of the things that I did," Murdaugh said, NBC News reported. "And Judge Gergel, I hope with every cell of my existence, I hope that I will not have done what I did had I not been addicted to opioids."

Murdaugh was also ordered to pay more than $8.7 million in restitution to his victims, per CNN.

Related: Prosecutors Detail How Son's Cell Phone Video Allegedly Places Alex Murdaugh at Murder Scene

His victims included the family of his longtime housekeeper Gloria Satterfield, who died in a mysterious trip and fall.

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“He's a modern-day monster. He’s the devil," attorney Eric Bland who represented the Satterfield family as well as others, previously told PEOPLE.

Murdaugh came into the national spotlight after he claimed he came home on the night of June 7, 2021, to find Maggie and Paul shot to death on the grounds of their hunting lodge.

In July 14, 2022, more than a year after Paul and Maggie's deaths, Murdaugh was indicted for the murders and later convicted of them.

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