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.

Law School removes Scruggs from campaign

The new University of Mississippi law school's fundraising campaign Web site no longer list Dickie Scruggs as one of the co-chairmen of the fundraising committee, and they have also removed his name from a list of donors.

Additionally, the Dickie Scruggs classroom wing is no longer on a list of the new law school's named areas.

Chancellor Robert Khayat confirmed Tuesday that the Scruggses had requested his and his wife Dianne's names be removed from the Richard and Dianne Scruggs music hall building. The request will be considered Thursday by the Institutions for Higher Learning.

Scruggs pleaded guilty to bribing Lafayette County Circuit Judge Henry Lackey on Friday. Three others have also pleaded guilty.

Scruggs' son Zach Scruggs is the only remaining defendant and has spent the week adding lawyers to his defense team, suggesting he is prepping for trial. Like his father, Zach attended Ole Miss as an undergraduate and for law school.

The DM will be trying to contact both the dean of the law school and Khayat in order to get a better explanation.

Scruggs won close to one billion dollars suing big tobacco companies. He and his wife have donated millions to the university ever since.

Guess who's back...

Brother Micah Anderson, a preacher who often visits universities, has returned to the front of the Ole Miss Student Union to deliver his evangelistic message. Anderson was spotted preparing for his speech around 12 p.m., and by 12:50 p.m. a group of over 150 student had gathered to listen to and/or protest his words.

Anderson, seen in the file photo to the right, visited Ole Miss for a week at the end of March 2007. Click here for an audio slideshow of his visit last year and click here for a video interview by Newswatch's Tony Russell.

For coverage of Anderson's visit this year, check The DM Online later.