Cory Fleming release date confirms shorter than expected sentence for Murdaugh accomplice
The release date of a Murdaugh accomplice, whose sentence prompted confusion even among close trial watchers and law enforcement, has now been set.
Cory Fleming, a South Carolina attorney who pleaded guilty to helping Murdaugh steal millions from his clients, has a projected release date of Dec. 5, 2032, according to records from the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
He will be eligible for parole less than two months before his release, on Oct. 18, 2032. That means that Fleming will serve a little over nine years in prison on combined state and federal charges.
That is far less time than the roughly 20 years many believed he would serve following sentencing in state court on Sept. 14. Most observers at the time interpreted Judge Clifton Newman’s lengthy and sometimes confusing discourse to mean that Fleming had received two consecutive 10-year sentences on 23 separate state charges. This was in addition to an almost four-year federal sentence handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Gergel in August.
It is also considerably less than the 13- to 14-year estimate provided by the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office following the hearing. The State has contacted the Attorney General’s Office for comment.
That brings Fleming’s total sentence closer to that of Russell Laffitte, the former CEO of Palmetto State Bank who was convicted of helping Murdaugh steal millions from his clients. Laffitte was sentenced to seven years in federal prison.
Fleming is currently incarcerated at an unnamed federal prison, according to Department of Corrections records. Once he has completed his federal sentence, he will serve out the remainder of his sentence in state prison.
The Department of Corrections was waiting on information about Fleming’s sentence from the federal Bureau of Prisons before they were able to calculate Fleming’s parole eligibility, said Chrysti Shain, a department spokesperson.
The current estimate does not take into account the credit that inmates are able to earn for work and good behavior because Fleming has not earned any yet, Shain said. However, she confirmed he will be incarcerated in the Department of Corrections until at least March 2032.
Fleming, 54, a close friend of Murdaugh, pleaded guilty Aug. 23 to helping the disbarred attorney and convicted double murderer steal $4.3 million from the estate of Gloria Satterfield, the Murdaugh family’s longtime housekeeper. Murdaugh orchestrated a scheme to divert a massive insurance payout intended for Satterfield’s sons into his own pockets after Satterfield died following a fall at Murdaugh’s home on their Moselle estate.
He also pleaded guilty to stealing money 10 years ago from Pamela Pinckney, whose handicapped son had been represented by Alex Murdaugh.
Fleming faced up to 195 years in prison for charges connected to both thefts.
Murdaugh is serving to two consecutive life sentences for the murders of his wife, Maggie, and son Paul. He is awaiting sentencing after he pleaded guilty to 22 federal charges, including wire fraud and money laundering.
In addition, he still faces roughly 100 state charges related to his financial crimes, including his role in the theft from the Satterfield estate.
