Disgraced Los Angeles legal professional Tom Girardi has been convicted of wire fraud after he was accused of embezzling thousands and thousands of {dollars} from purchasers, together with victims of catastrophic accidents and households who misplaced family members.
A jury on Tuesday discovered Girardi, the estranged husband of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Erika Jayne, responsible on 4 counts stemming from a decade-long scheme. The octogenarian, who is ready to be sentenced in December, faces as much as 80 years in jail.
Girardi reportedly turned down a journalist’s request for remark after his trial, with the now-disbarred lawyer chuckling after which saying, “No, No.”
HuffPost didn’t hear again from Girardi’s authorized staff when requested if there have been any plans to enchantment.
Earlier than his fall from grace, Girardi was often called one of many extra highly effective and well-connected attorneys in Los Angeles, securing multimillion-dollar settlements as a private damage legal professional.
One in all his most distinguished circumstances, a lawsuit in opposition to California’s Pacific Fuel and Electrical Firm, was the inspiration for the Academy Award-winning drama “Erin Brockovich,” starring Julia Roberts.
He additionally represented households of victims of the 2018 Lion Air Flight 610 crash in Indonesia, in addition to Bryan Stow, a San Francisco Giants fan who sued Main League Baseball after he was attacked and severely injured in a Dodger Stadium parking zone in 2011.
Myung J. Chun through Getty Photos
Based on the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the Central District of California, Girardi used the cash he embezzled to fund an extravagant life-style, which was seen on Jayne’s actuality collection.
“Mr. Girardi exploited his clients’ misfortunes on a grand scale,” learn an announcement from Tyler Hatcher of IRS Legal Investigation, the legislation enforcement division of the IRS.
“His clients sought his help in the wake of significant trauma and injury, yet he violated their trust to steal from them and fund his own lavish lifestyle, and he will now face the consequences of his actions.”
Forward of his trial, Girardi’s staff argued that his 2021 analysis of late-onset Alzheimer’s illness and dementia made him mentally incompetent and subsequently unable to help his attorneys within the case.
A choose in January deemed him able to standing trial, nevertheless.
All through the proceedings, Girardi’s public defenders claimed that Christopher Kamon, the previous chief monetary officer on the now-shuttered legislation agency Girardi Keese, was the one behind the monetary scheme.
The protection described Girardi’s involvement on the agency as a “Weekend at Bernie’s” fashion scenario, with individuals at Girardi Keese “propping him up to keep the party going.”
Kamon was charged alongside Girardi in Los Angeles however is ready to go to trial individually in January.
Girardi, Kamon and David Lira, Girardi’s son-in-law, face related prices in a case in Chicago, the place they’re scheduled to go to trial subsequent yr for allegedly misappropriating thousands and thousands in settlement funds associated to the Lion Air Flight 610 crash. All three have pleaded not responsible.
