Final defandent in bribery overture pleads guilty

Zach Scruggs pleaded guilty Friday morning to a one count felony. The government dismissed the conspiracy charges against him and agreed to charge him only with misprision of a felony.

Scruggs' plea comes one week after his father Richard "Dickie" Scruggs pleaded guilty to charges of trying to bribe circuit judge Henry Lackey. Three others have also pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charges.

Scruggs pleaded guilty to having knowledge there was unlawful contact with Lackey to obtain a favorable ruling. According to the new charges against him, he was not directly involved with the conspiracy but should have reported the illegal contact to the authorities.

The maximum sentence Scruggs could receive is three years. However, prosecutors have asked for a probated sentence, where Scruggs would be on probation and have to pay the fine. The final sentence is up to the judge, who did not set a date for the sentencing.

With his attorneys, former Miss. Attorney General Mike Moore and Todd Graves, Scruggs made a statement about his actions:

"No one is more sorry that I under the circumstances. I had no knowledge that Tim Balducci bribed Judge Lackey to obtain the order. I would have reported that if I had known. I did know about Balducci’s relationship with Judge Lackey and the improper contacts. That did deprive the state of honest services. I should have reported that to my lawyer so that it could have been communicated to the plaintiffs’ lawyers, but I did not. I here accept full responsibility. The legal profession has high standards, not just a duty to not do ex parte contact but to prevent others from doing ex parte contact. I hope that the Miss. bar will gain from my mistake."

Scruggs, 33, graduated from the Ole Miss law School.