Former Attorney Dickie Scruggs on Jail

From billionaire to inmate, former Mississippi attorney Dickie Scruggs opened up about his jail time while he was in Pascagoula today.
Scruggs says it was the time he spent in federal prison that lead him to start a non-profit organization that benefits state education. News 25’s Gina Tomlinson has the details.
Years locked up and behind bars, once known as perhaps the best trial attorney in the nation, Mississippi billionaire Dickie Scruggs says life had begun to seem meaningless. “After having practiced law and been involved in things all my life, the hardest thing about prison was no sense of purpose.”
Best known for his great success in asbestos, tobacco and insurance cases, Scruggs credits his dark days spent in jail for bringing light to a new life purpose, the formation of his organization called Second Chance Mississippi.
It all started when Scruggs was sentenced to six years for conspiring to bribe a judge. Inmates at the Ashland Kentucky Federal Prison started drawing conclusions, making his sentence not an easy one to bear. “They thought I was a pedophile because a lot of men my age and my background were being sent to that particular prison because they were child molesters,” said Scruggs.
In time, Scruggs found new motivation in helping inmates prepare for the GED test. “I started motivating the guys in class to change their lives.”
Scruggs says his experience motivated him to create a non-profit organization. “We raise and or contribute money ourselves to provide wrap around support for the community colleges.”
Scruggs tells News 25 that 14,000 kids drop out of Mississippi schools every year. He says that one in five adults don’t have their high school diploma. His goal is to double the amount of GED’s for Mississippians every year. “It gave me a new sense of purpose.”