Former Senator Philip Moran sentenced to 20 years in witness bribery scheme

• Moran and his son, Alan Moran, were convicted of bribery and conspiracy. A jury found the pair attempted to stop a witness from testifying in a separate stalking case that could have led to the revocation of Alan’s probation from an earlier child sexual abuse conviction.

Former State Senator Philip Moran cut an imposing figure in the State Capitol. A mountain of a man with catcher’s mitts for hands, Moran will now be lumbering through prison. A jury found Moran and his son, former Diamondhead City Councilman Alan Moran, guilty of both bribery and conspiracy in a case that stemmed from the younger Moran’s sexual exploitation of a teenage boy and the alleged stalking of a second teenage boy.

On Wednesday, father and son received their sentences, with each receiving the maximum of 15 years for the bribery conviction and an additional 5 years for the conspiracy conviction. Philip Moran’s sentence included 12 years of prison time and 8 years of probation. Under Mississippi law, he could be eligible for parole in 3 years. 

Alan Moran’s sentence included 10 years of prison time and 10 of probation. This sentence will be stacked on top of a previous sentence for exploitation of minor. Combined, the younger Moran will serve a maximum of 20 years in prison.

During sentencing, the Moran’s pleaded for leniency from the court. Judge Christopher Schmidt was unpersuaded, saying the actions of the defendants were ones of hubris, arrogance and corruption. 

Schmidt also noted that both defendants operated in positions of public trust. “The public should expect and demand that those in public office should serve with honesty. Failing to do so erodes confidence.”

The case against the Morans had its genesis in two previous criminal cases. In February of 2022, Alan Moran offered a 17-year old boy money and beer to watch the teen play with a sex toy. He pled guilty to felony exploitation of a child and misdemeanor contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

In February of 2024, Alan was sentenced to fifteen years for the felony exploitation conviction, but the sentence was suspended and he received just five years of probation.

Later that year, Alan approached a 19-year-old male worker at Lowe’s in Waveland. That worker said the conversation turned sexual and made him uncomfortable. Later that night when he got off work, Alan was waiting for him in the parking lot. 

The worker reported the incident to the police and an arrest warrant was sworn out for misdemeanor stalking. While the charge was relatively minor, it threatened Alan Moran’s probation on his previous child exploitation conviction, which meant the original sentence in that case might be reinstated.

Prosecutors presented evidence that this was when the Morans concocted a conspiracy to pay off the young Lowe’s worker to drop the stalking charge. Testimony, phone records and photographic evidence during the trial was used to show that the Lowe’s worker was offered $20,000, a sum which he refused and reported to authorities. 

During the pendency of the trial, a number of peculiarities unfolded, including an FBI investigation into whether Philip Moran had threatened to kill the people trying “to put him in jail,” the revocation of his bond for violating its conditions to attend a local fish fry, and an attempt by the defendants to have Judge Schmidt disqualified.