Scruggs Freed From Federal Prison

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) – Richard F. “Dickie” Scruggs, a noted plaintiff’s attorney before being snared in a corruption investigation, has been released from prison pending an appeal.

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (http://bit.ly/ST35iA ) reports that Scuggs, 66, was released on $2 million bond Monday from a federal prison facility in Montgomery, Ala.

Scruggs is appealing a 2009 guilty plea that he improperly influenced then Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter.

Scruggs says his contacts with DeLaughter were political speech, not bribery. The former attorney, who won a huge settlement against the tobacco industry, was also convicted for conspiring to bribe another judge. That sentence is ending.

U.S. Senior District Judge Glen Davidson granted bond after Scruggs argued that it would be wrong for him to serve more prison time if his appeal were granted.