A judge sentenced disgraced legal titan Tom Girardi, once among the nation’s most formidable trial attorneys, to seven years in prison Tuesday for stealing millions of dollars from clients.
U.S. District Court Judge Josephine Staton said in handing down the sentence that Girardi had used the settlements of catastrophically injured clients to underwrite a lifestyle of “private jets and country clubs” for himself and his wife, “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Erika Jayne.
“Mr. Girardi further victimized these people and did so at the lowest point in their lives,” Staton said.
Girardi, who turned 86 on Tuesday, was convicted of four counts of wire fraud last year. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease five years ago, though the level of his impairment is disputed.
He stared blankly at the judge as she spoke. Given a chance to address the court, Girardi spoke in a soft, muffled voice, blaming poor accounting and insisting he had not profited personally.
“I think it’s clear there was some negligence involved, but everybody got everything they were supposed to get. That’s the important thing,” he said.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Scott Paetty said the statement was just the most recent in a string of falsehoods from Girardi.
“We are here today because of Tom Girardi’s lies,” he said, calling Girardi’s handling of client money at the now defunct Girardi Keese law firm a “textbook Ponzi scheme.”
Staton rejected a proposal from Girardi’s attorneys that he be allowed to serve any sentence in the locked Alzheimer’s care unit at the Seal Beach nursing home where he has lived for several years.
“If he’s in prison, he will not understand why,” defense attorney Samuel Cross told the judge, describing Girardi’s memory as “frozen in amber 30 years ago” when he was at the height of his career.
Staton said she was not moved by what she called his “cognitive decline,” saying his advanced age and various maladies actually made his imprisonment less harsh than it might have been when he was at the height of his power.
“This is not a greater punishment because he is old. It is lesser because he gives up less,” the judge said.
Girardi is to surrender to prison authorities by July 17.
