Erika Jaynes ex Tom Girardi, 86, sentenced to 7 years in prison for wire fraud

Erika Jayne’s estranged husband has finally learned his fate.Tom Girardi, 86, has been sentenced to seven years and three months in prison for embezzling millions of dollars from his former clients, NBC News reported on Tuesday.The disgraced lawyer was also reportedly ordered to pay $2.3 million in restitution to his victims, as well as a $35K fine.Girardi’s sentencing comes nearly one year after he was found guilty of four counts of wire fraud in a Los Angeles federal court in August 2024.The former powerhouse attorney, who ran the now-closed Girardi Keese law firm, was accused of stealing more than $15 million in settlement funds from his clients from October 2010 to late 2020.Several of his victims were the loved ones of those killed in the 2018 Lion Air crash, which claimed the lives of all 189 people onboard.“Girardi sent lulling communications to the defrauded clients that, among other things, falsely denied that the settlement proceeds had been paid and falsely claimed that Girardi Keese could not pay the settlement proceeds to clients until certain purported requirements had been met,” the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said in a news release upon Girardi’s sentencing.“These bogus requirements included addressing supposed tax obligations,” the office continued, “settling bankruptcy claims, obtaining supposedly necessary authorizations from judges, and satisfying other debts.”Federal prosecutors added that Girardi, whose 1993 groundwater contamination lawsuit against Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

inspired the 2000 film “Erin Brockovich,” used his celebrity status to steal money from clients.“This self-proclaimed ‘champion of justice’ was nothing more than a thief and a liar who conned his vulnerable clients out of millions of dollars,” Bilal Essayli, who serves as the US Attorney for the Central District of California, said.Girardi’s sentencing comes weeks after Jayne, who filed for divorce from ...