Tom Girardi, the now disbarred lawyer who rose to fame winning the real-life Erin Brockovich case and marrying Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne, must undergo cognitive testing to determine whether he should be sent to prison or a specialized medical facility after his recent fraud conviction, a federal judge ruled Friday.
Girardi, 85, appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom but didn’t speak at what was initially scheduled as his sentencing hearing. Instead of learning whether he might receive some — or all — of the 14 years imprisonment sought by prosecutors, he was ordered by U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton to surrender to federal marshals next month and be flown to North Carolina for psychological evaluation. His defense lawyers allege he has dementia. The judge wants the testing to determine whether he qualifies for care at a Bureau of Prisons center serving severely impaired, elderly defendants.
Girardi’s defense lawyer, Samuel Cross, balked at the long-distance trip to the federal medical center in Butner, saying it would be too arduous for his client. “Mr. Girardi has special needs relating to his memory,” Cross said. “We expect him to deteriorate and not do well [in Bureau of Prisons custody]. … There’s no reason this has to be done a continent away.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Paetty argued that the U.S. Marshals are “well-versed” at transporting defendants with medical issues. “The defendant is ambulatory. He’s not on a respirator, he’s not on a ventilator. They can facilitate [his transportation] safely, humanely, and suitably.”
Judge Staton agreed with Paetty. She ordered that Girardi surrender by Jan. 7 and be transported to North Carolina the same day. “I want him going directly from where he is to a plane and ending up at Butner without a midway stop anywhere else,” Judge Staton said. After his examination that’s expected to last no more than 30 days, Girardi is expected to return for another hearing where Judge Staton will again consider his fate with the added benefit of the test results.
It was last August that Girardi was found guilty of four counts of wire fraud for embezzling “tens of millions of dollars” from the clients of his now-shuttered law firm Girardi & Keese. Jurors spent less than a day deliberating after hearing from prosecutors that Girardi diverted money from his law firm’s accounts to pay for private jet travel, luxury cars, jewelry, memberships to exclusive golf and social clubs, and more than $25 million in expenses for Jayne’s company, EJ Global.
During the 13-day trial, some of Girardi’s former clients testified that they had been lulled into complacency by Girardi’s role in securing the landmark $333 million settlement against Pacific Gas & Electric that was featured in the 2000 movie Erin Brockovich, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“Tom Girardi built celebrity status and lured in victims by falsely portraying himself as a champion of justice,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said after the verdict. “In reality, he was a Robin-Hood-in-reverse, stealing from the needy to support [his] lavish, Hollywood lifestyle. Today’s verdict shows that the game is up. We can all now see this defendant for what he was and the victims he callously betrayed.”
Prosecutors said that between October 2010 and late 2020, Girardi provided a “litany of lies” to clients so he could withhold their settlement money and use it for himself. Girardi would sometimes falsely deny the money had been received or claim that it couldn’t be released until “bogus” requirements such as tax obligations or judicial authorizations were satisfied or obtained, prosecutors said.
“I trusted him too much,” former client Joseph Ruigomez, who suffered catastrophic burn injuries as a teenager in a 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion, testified at the trial, according to The Times. Some of Ruigomez’s $53 million settlement went to compensate other Girardi clients in what prosecutors described as a Ponzi scheme.
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