A few months ago, I began getting email messages about this case. The most recent came today and, I suspect but don’t know for certain, the NEMS360.com report on the upcoming hearing of Zach Scruggs’ Motion to Vacate prompted this latest message.
In the event it did not, I’ll confess that Judge Biggers’ decision had everything to do with my decision to toss my plans for the evening and dig a little deeper into Ken Nowlin’s Motion to Vacate his guilt plea. Why? Because there’s little comparison between Nowlin and Scruggs; yet, both have filed motions to vacate their agreements to plead guilty before a north Mississippi federal court.
Nowlin was the big fish in the little pond of Ecru, Mississippi – population 947 in the 2000 Census. Scruggs, on the other hand, is the son of the biggest fish in the pond – an award winning catch for the federal prosecutors working for the U.S. Attorney of the northern district of Mississippi.
Nowlin served almost 15 months and paid nearly $276,000 in restitution after pleading guilty three years ago to one count of a 53-count federal indictment, which accused him of a conspiracy to corruptly accept some $827,000 in insurance commissions. (NEMS360.com)
However, Nowlin, like Scruggs, claims he was pressured to plead guilty; albeit under different circumstances: Continue reading “Nowlin’s Motion to Vacate – another view of the “just-us” system of North Mississippi”