Lawyers ask court to take charge of Katrina money

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Some lawyers fighting over Hurricane Katrina legal fees want a Mississippi court to take control of millions of dollars in settlement money because of an alleged scheme to bribe a judge, according to court records.

The motion, filed Wednesday in Lafayette County Circuit Court, is the latest development in a judicial bribery case that has entangled one of the nation's wealthiest trial lawyers, Dickie Scruggs.

It all began when Scruggs and a group of his associates known as the Scruggs Katrina Group brokered a mass settlement with State Farm Insurance Cos. But one of the firms involved - Jones, Funderburg, Sessums, Peterson & Lee - sued Scruggs earlier this year for a bigger cut of at least $26.5 million in legal fees.

Then last week, the case took a turn: Scruggs, his son and three associates were indicted for trying to bribe the judge in the case.

Scruggs, whose brother-in-law is Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., and three others pleaded not guilty to six charges, including conspiracy and mail fraud. The alleged conspirator who supposedly delivered $40,000 in cash to the judge, took a plea deal Tuesday and is cooperating with federal prosecutors

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I knew it! Its about the Katrina money.