A federal judge in downtown Los Angeles said today that she will sentence disgraced former legal heavyweight Tom Girardi — who was convicted last year of stealing $15 million from injured clients in a long-running Ponzi scheme — to prison rather than a treatment center for his age-related dementia. Sentencing is scheduled for Tuesday.
During a nearly three-hour hearing, U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton heard testimony from two government medical experts and two defense witnesses. She ultimately determined that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons can adequately house and care for the 85-year-old estranged husband of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne despite his cognitive impairment.
In an unexpected moment, Girardi — who turns 86 on Tuesday — took the stand and exhibited both confusion about the past and awareness of his current surroundings in Los Angeles federal court.
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Asked by one of his attorneys, Sam Cross, if he had traveled recently, Girardi confidently responded that he had just “crisscrossed the country,” attending a meeting of the “National Academy” in New York, with stops in Oklahoma, where he said in had a “case,” and Buffalo, N.Y.
In fact, Girardi has been housed in the secure memory care section of an assisted living facility in Orange County for over two years, except for the six weeks he spent at the beginning of the year being psychologically evaluated at a federal facility in North Carolina.
Asked where he lives, the disbarred ex-attorney said “Pasadena,” and told his attorney that after the hearing concludes, he will go to his law firm Girardi Keese, which closed at least five years ago and is now in bankruptcy proceedings.
But questioned about any current problems, he answered, “serious memory loss.” The judge later seized on that statement as evidence that Girardi retained self-awareness and had not completely lost touch with reality.
As he was leaving the witness stand, Girardi’s trousers began to fall down, and he quickly pulled them up, which Staton later said was another indication of his awareness that he was in a courtroom and could feel embarrassment.
In his argument, Cross asked that the judge leave Girardi in the assisted living facility where he resides, rather than send him to federal prison, where the level of care would not be adequate for his client’s needs.
“We believe he is in need of specialized treatment,” Cross told the judge, adding that the defendant is “frail, elderly” and in danger of being “exploited or taken advantage of” behind bars.
However, Staton said the testimony via video Monday from both a BOP neuropsychologist and a BOP forensic psychologist — along with Girardi’s own apparent self-awareness — helped convince her that Girardi can safely be sentenced at a BOP facility.
“He will be designated to an appropriate facility,” the judge said in conclusion.
Girardi underwent a six-week psychological evaluation earlier this year at FMC Butner, a federal prison in North Carolina for male inmates who have special health needs, in order to determine his level of cognitive impairment.
Prosecutors want Girardi handed a 14-year prison term for his August 2024 convictions for four counts of wire fraud.
Once ranked among the most successful and prominent lawyers in the country, Girardi stole millions from clients and spent the money on private jets, golf club memberships, jewelry and the career of his now-estranged wife, federal prosecutors said.
His scams, which ran from 2010-20, were the subject of the 2021 Hulu documentary The Housewife and the Hustler. Girardi was a well-known attorney for his role in the real-life 1980s suit against utility company Pacific Gas & Electric that inspired the 2000 film Erin Brockovich. Julia Roberts won a Best Actress Oscar for the role.
Jayne filed for divorce in November 2020 after a 21-year marriage. Following the split, the couple listed their Pasadena home for sale at a price of $13 million. Jayne, 51, has not been charged in the case against her husband.
After Girardi was disbarred in 2022, the State Bar of California reported it had received over 200 complaints against him alleging he misappropriated settlement money, abandoned clients or committed other serious ethical violations over the course of his four-decade career.
His firm Girardi Keese collapsed in late 2020 after Girardi was accused in a lawsuit of embezzling money meant for clients the firm was representing in litigation over an airplane crash in Indonesia.
Girardi is in bankruptcy proceedings, as is the now-shuttered Wilshire Boulevard law firm that bore his name and faces more than $500 million in claims.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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