Tom Girardi was ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation to determine where he should serve his sentence following his conviction on federal wire fraud charges.
Lawyers for the former lawyer, whose landmark settlement against Pacific Gas & Electric was featured in the Oscar-winning film Erin Brockovich, requested a new trial in October, alleging that the estranged husband of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne, 85 years, suffered from dementia and was unfit to appear in court before his sentencing in August.
To determine whether those concerns are valid, U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton on Friday ordered that he be turned over to authorities on Jan. 7 for evaluation.
Girardi will then be flown to the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, for 30 days to see if he qualifies for incarceration at a Bureau of Prisons facility that cares for elderly defendants with severe disabilities.
After that, he would be returned to California for a hearing that will determine whether he should serve his sentence in a prison or medical facility.
The disbarred attorney’s legal team argued that it was not necessary for their client to travel across the country for an evaluation. ‘Mister. Girardi has special needs related to his memory,” said defense attorney Samuel Cross.
Tom Girardi, 85, was ordered to undergo psychological testing at a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to determine where he should serve his sentence following his wire fraud conviction in August (pictured in Los Angeles in August) .
‘We hope he deteriorates and does not do well (in Bureau of Prisons custody). …There is no reason this has to be done a continent away,” according to rolling stone.
However, Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Paetty responded that U.S. Marshals are “well versed” in transporting defendants with medical problems.
‘The accused is ambulatory. He’s not on a respirator, he’s not on a ventilator. “They can facilitate (its transportation) in a safe, humane and appropriate manner.”
Girardi was found guilty of stealing more than $15 million from his clients, which he used to pay for his lavish lifestyle in August.
Staton had ruled that Girardi was competent to stand trial at the time and found that while he was suffering from some mental deterioration, the former attorney was exaggerating his symptoms and could contribute to his own defense.
Prosecutors asked for a 14-year sentence, but the defense argued that Girardi was a “broken, half-blind, incontinent, dementia-stricken 85-year-old man” who should not spend time behind bars.
Girardi, who founded the prestigious law firm Girardi & Keese in Los Angeles, was charged and convicted of four counts of wire fraud, each of which carries a 20-year sentence.
His high-profile career came crashing down in 2020 when he was accused of stealing millions in settlements he had won for victims of the 2018 Lion Air plane crash in Indonesia.
Girardi’s lawyers have argued that their client suffers from dementia and should not be jailed. U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton on Friday ordered that he be turned over to officials on Jan. 7 for evaluation (pictured in Los Angeles in April 2018).
The disbarred attorney will be flown to the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, for 30 days to see if he qualifies for incarceration at a Bureau of Prisons facility that cares for elderly defendants with severe disabilities (pictured in Los Angeles in August).
Girardi founded the prestigious law firm Girardi & Keese in Los Angeles after he and Erin Brockovich won a major legal victory against a California utility giant. That battle inspired the Oscar-winning film Erin Brockovich (pictured in Toronto in September 2011)
Claims from that crash, which killed 189 people, are the basis of other criminal charges against Girardi that are still pending in Chicago. He also pleaded not guilty to those charges.
During the trial, the jury heard that between 2010 and 2020 the embarrassed lawyer used his clients’ settlement funds “like a personal piggy bank.”
Paetty told the jury that “Girardi Keese was a den of thieves and Tom Girardi was the thief in chief.” Girardi Keese was a house of cards built on Tom Girardi’s lies.
Girardi was married to Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne. The couple separated in November 2020 after 21 years of marriage. Their divorce has not yet been finalized.
They described how Girardi ran a massive ‘Ponzi scheme’, lying to his clients and using their embezzled millions to pay for his own lavish lifestyle of private jets, luxury cars, exclusive club memberships and expensive jewelry for his third wife, the ex-go-go. dancer Jayne, 52, plus $20 million to finance her acting career.
Prosecutors also showed how the lawyer sometimes used one client’s settlements to pay others.
The couple was together for 21 years, but their divorce, filed by Jayne shortly after the Lion Air allegations, has been delayed since Girardi Keese filed for bankruptcy in 2021 with more than $100 million in debt.
Jayne never appeared at her soon-to-be ex-husband’s trial.