Judge portrayed in ‘Ghosts of Mississippi’ pleads guilty to obstruction for lying to FBI agent

Miss. judge pleads guilty to lying to FBI agent

ABERDEEN, Miss. — A Mississippi judge known for prosecuting a white supremacist decades after a civil rights-era killing has pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for lying to an FBI agent investigating corruption.

Bobby DeLaughter entered the plea Thursday. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed conspiracy and mail fraud charges.

DeLaughter was accused of giving an unfair advantage to former multi-millionaire attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs in a dispute over millions of dollars in fees from asbestos lawsuits.

Prosecutors recommended an 18-month prison sentence.

DeLaughter became well-known in the 1990s after he helped prosecute the man who killed Mississippi NAACP leader Medgar Evers in 1963. Actor Alec Baldwin portrayed DeLaughter in “Ghosts of Mississippi,” a film based on the trial.