JACKSON (AP) — Letters written to a federal judge on behalf of a former attorney who is to be sentenced next week for conspiring to bribe a state judge will be made available to the media Wednesday.

Joey Langston will be sentenced next Tuesday for his role in a sweeping federal investigation that toppled famed plaintiffs lawyer Richard ‘‘Dickie’’ Scruggs.

It’s common for people to write letters to a judge before a defendant’s sentencing, especially in a high profile case, either asking for leniency or a stiff penalty. But Langston had asked for the letters about him to be kept secret after several media organizations requested access to them.

‘‘In this case, there is, in fact, a compelling reason to disclose the letters in question,’’ U.S. District Chief Judge Michael P. Mills ruled Monday. ‘‘It is particularly important that these proceedings be open and transparent.’’

Langston’s attorney, Tony Farese, said he will not appeal the order.

It’s not clear how much influence the letters will have. Prosecutors have praised Langston’s cooperation during the ongoing investigation and recommended a three-year sentence. Judges are not bound by prosecutors’ recommendations, but often adhere to them.

Langston was representing Scruggs when Scruggs was indicted last November along with Scruggs’ son and several associates in a conspiracy to bribe Lafayette County Circuit Judge Henry Lackey. As the investigation progressed, investigators began taking a close look at Langston’s activities and raided his Booneville office in northeast Mississippi.

Langston pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to influence Hinds County Judge Bobby DeLaughter, allegedly on Scruggs’ behalf.

DeLaughter, who is well-known for his prosecution of a cold case from the civil rights era, which was portrayed in the 1996 movie ‘‘Ghosts of Mississippi,’’ has insisted he did nothing wrong. He has been suspended from the bench.

Scruggs eventually pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe Lackey in a dispute over $26.5 million in legal fees and was sentenced to five years.

Scruggs gained national prominence and earned hundreds of millions of dollars by leading the charge against tobacco companies in the 1990s, a feat portrayed in the 1999 film ‘‘The Insider.’’



AP-CS-12-09-08 1645EST