JACKSON (AP) — Disbarred attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, who is serving a five-year prison sentence in a high profile judicial bribery conspiracy, is scheduled to appear in federal court Tuesday.

Scruggs was one of the most powerful civil attorneys in the country before pleading guilty last year to conspiring to bribe a judge in a dispute over $26.5 million in legal fees from Hurricane Katrina insurance cases.

His name has since been mentioned in another alleged bribery scheme in Hinds County over asbestos fees, but he has not been publicly charged in that case. It was not immediately clear why he was appearing in court next week. A court employee said Scruggs was to appear before U.S. District Judge Glen Davidson.

Calls to the U.S. attorney’s office were not returned and Scruggs’ attorney did not respond to phone and e-mail messages.

Larry Whitman, executive assistant at the Kentucky prison where Scruggs was being held, told The Associated Press on Friday that Scruggs was not at the facility. It was not clear where he was being held or if was in transit.

Scruggs had gained national prominence, and hundreds of millions of dollars, by leading the charge against tobacco companies in the 1990s that led to a multibillion-dollar settlement. His efforts were portrayed in the 1999 film “The Insider,” starring Al Pacino and Russell Crowe.

He was indicted in November 2007 along with several associates in the Katrina bribery case. Scruggs’ associates who pleaded guilty in that case pointed investigators to other alleged crimes, including a case before Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter. Scruggs’ former lawyer, Joey Langston, pleaded guilty to trying to influence DeLaughter on Scruggs’ behalf.

Prosecutors say DeLaughter was enticed with a promise that he would be appointed to the federal bench with help from Scruggs’ brother-in-law, former U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, according to court records. Lott has not been accused of wrongdoing.

Lott has acknowledged calling DeLaughter about an open seat on the federal bench, but recommended someone else.

So far in the alleged DeLaughter bribery, Langston is the only one who has been charged. He claims he directed $1 million to former Hinds County District Attorney Ed Peters to help persuade DeLaughter to rule in Scruggs’ favor. The government has seized $425,000 from Peters, which is all they say is left after taxes and stock market losses.



DeLaughter once worked for Peters as an assistant district attorney. They made headlines in 1994 by successfully prosecuting Byron de la Beckwith for the 1963 assassination of Mississippi civil rights leader Medgar Evers. The case was portrayed in the 1996 movie “Ghosts of Mississippi.” DeLaughter wrote a book about the trial.



Peters and DeLaughter have not responded to numerous messages. DeLaughter has said he did nothing wrong.