(NewsNation) —Disbarred South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to 27 years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to multiple financial crimes, including tax evasion, money laundering and financial fraud.

State prosecutors and defense attorneys negotiated Murdaugh’s 27-year prison sentence with 85% time for the charges brought against him by the state of South Carolina.

Creighton Waters, a prosecutor from the state Attorney General’s Office, said Murdaugh stole more than $12 million over the years.

Prosecutors plan to work with Murdaugh’s defense attorneys as well as other parties to come up with an “appropriate” restitution amount, Waters said, “Even though we all know that in the end, the well was bled dry by this man.” 

Murdaugh is already serving a life sentence without parole after being convicted earlier this year in the June 2021 shooting deaths of his wife, Maggie and younger son, Paul. Alleging that the court clerk tampered with the jury, Murdaugh’s lawyers are now seeking a new trial.

Though he pleaded not guilty to their murders and maintains he did not kill his wife and son, Murdaugh did admit to stealing from those close to him, including former clients. Those he stole from include the family of his longtime family housekeeper Gloria Satterfield, who died after falling at the Murdaugh home. Satterfield’s family says Murdaugh suggested her sons sue him for insurance money. However, the family never saw a penny of the $4 million Murdaugh got from his insurers.

In front of Judge Clifton Newman, Murdaugh said earlier this month that, “I wrongly took all of that money, your honor, and did all of those crimes.”

Waters cited Murdaugh’s “insatiable need for money” as his motive.

Prosecutors initially charged Murdaugh with 101 financial crimes. Under the plea deal, this number was reduced to 22 against each of his 18 former clients. The deal does not include county-level charges he is also facing.

Some of his financial victims, as well as their attorneys, addressed the court during the sentencing hearing Tuesday.

Attorney Eric Bland, who represented Gloria Satterfield’s family and other victims, said they are satisfied with the sentence — though they wish it was even longer.

“This was predatory behavior,” Bland said. “It wasn’t stealing money from faceless people, from shareholders. This was Alex Murdaugh stealing money from those who were closest to him.”

Gloria Satterfield was “so much more” than a housekeeper to the Murdaughs, Bland said. She helped raise their sons, he said, and was a good mother to her own children.

To Murdaugh, Gloria Satterfield’s son Tony said, “You lied, you cheated, you stole.” Despite this, Tony Satterfield said Tuesday he forgives Murdaugh. 

“I will pray for you every day that God gets ahold of your heart,” Tony Satterfield said. 

Gloria Satterfield’s sister, Ginger Harriott Hadwin said Murdaugh stole “every dime” from her nephews.

“I just want to understand — do you not have soul? Thank God, maybe, that I don’t understand it,” Harriott Hardwin said. “Because then I might be in the same situation as you. I just don’t get it, and I guess I never will get it. So hopefully, God will forgive you because you’re going to need forgiveness.”

Pamela Pinckney, the mother of Hakeem Pinckney, a deaf man who became quadriplegic after a 2009 car crash, quoted from Psalms in her remarks, telling the court, “Without God, I wouldn’t be here.”

According to the New York Times, Murdaugh sued the manufacturer of the tires on the SUV involved in the crash, and won the family a $309,000 settlement. Murdaugh acknowledged taking most of that money, and then an additional $89,000 payment after Hakeem Pinckney died in a nursing home.

 “We were in a terrible motor vehicle accident and you took us for granted,” Pamela Pinckney said. Still, she told Murdaugh, “I forgive you.” 

Jordan Jinks, a childhood friend of Murdaugh’s, had two settlement checks, one for $65,000 and another for $85,000, taken by Murdaugh.

Getting emotional as he spoke Tuesday, Jinks said he had a “lot of intimate stuff he could say.”

“I didn’t want to come up here and bash you but I got to ask you — what kind of animal are you?” Jinks said. 

 As friends, Jinks said, Murdaugh could have simply asked him for the money.

“You didn’t have to steal it from me, man,” Jinks said. 

Addressing the court, Murdaugh said the others’ testimony resonated with him.

“Your pain and your hurt is palpable. I get it. It’s reasonable,” Murdaugh said. “I hope that the time will come when you can look back and know that despite the things that I did, I care about each one of you.”

Murdaugh, who previously admitted to having an addiction to opioids, said after self-reflection, he took more and more pills to attempt to hide from the “reality” of his actions. 

“I am so sorry for the things that I did,” Murdaugh said. “It is important for me that you know how sorry I am for the things that I did to each of you.”

The Associated Press and NewsNation local affiliate WCBD contributed to this report.

This story is developing. Refresh for updates.