Star Lawyer Gets 5 Years in Bribery Rap

Disgraced Mississippi lawyer Dickie Scruggs was sentenced to the maximum 5 years in prison today in a judicial bribery scheme; at the hearing, the class-action pioneer said, “I could not be more ashamed than I am today.” The judge hinted he might shave some time off if Scruggs cooperates with authorities in other bribery probes, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports.

"I disappointed everyone in my life—my wife, my family, my son," said Scruggs, 62, in an Atlanta courtroom. "It’s a tar on my soul that will be there forever." Added Scruggs' attorney: “He has fallen as far as a man can fall. He recognizes that.” (More Dickie Scruggs stories.)