A federal jury in Los Angeles on Tuesday found Tom Girardi, a disbarred California attorney, guilty of four counts of wire fraud in which prosecutors accused him of stealing $15 million in settlement money from clients.
Girardi, 85, whose pollution lawsuit against a California utility company was the subject of the Oscar-winning film “Erin Brockovich,” is accused of defrauding clients and embezzling settlement money from personal injury lawsuits.
“Tom Girardi lured victims with his celebrity status, falsely portraying himself as a 'champion of justice,'” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. “In reality, he was a reverse Robin Hood, stealing from people in need to support his lavish Hollywood lifestyle.”
Girardi's federal public defender did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Girardi blames the fraud on Christopher Cammon, the former chief financial officer of the law firm Girardi Keith, who his lawyers also claim suffers from dementia.
Girardi is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 6. He faces up to 20 years in prison on each wire fraud count, prosecutors said.
Kamon was indicted in Los Angeles along with Girardi on wire fraud charges but will go on trial separately in January. Kamon also faces separate charges that he embezzled $10 million from Girardi Keith and spent it on extensive home renovations, luxury sports cars and escorts. Kamon has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Girardi was a prominent figure in the U.S. plaintiffs' bar until allegations of defrauding clients in 2020 upended his career and led to him losing his license to practice law. He is the estranged husband of Erika Jayne Girardi, who starred in “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”
Prosecutors in a separate criminal case in Chicago have accused Tom Girardi, Kamon and Girardi's son-in-law, David Lira, who worked at Girardi Keith, of embezzling more than $3 million in client funds that were meant to be paid to families of victims of the 2018 crash of Boeing 737 Max Lion Air Flight 610 in Indonesia.
Girardi, Cammon and Lira have pleaded not guilty to the charges in Chicago.
U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton, who presided over the Los Angeles case, ruled earlier this year that Girardi was competent to stand trial, despite his lawyers' claims that he had dementia. Girardi's Chicago lawyers argue that Staton's competency ruling is not binding in the Illinois case.
