Tom Girardi sentenced to seven years for defrauding clients of millions

Tom Girardi, the once-powerful attorney known for winning multimillion-dollar lawsuits and appearing on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills as Erika Jayne’s husband, has been sentenced to seven years and three months  in federal prison.

His downfall - one of the most dramatic in recent legal history - reached its final chapter as a Los Angeles court found him guilty of stealing more than $15 million from vulnerable clients, including victims of plane crashes and industrial accidents.

Girardi, now 85, was disbarred in 2022 and diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, a factor his defense team leaned on heavily. But the court remained firm in holding him accountable, marking a turning point in celebrity-legal scandal narratives. Federal prosecutors said Girardi used his status to pilfer money from clients, whom he represented in cases involving severe injuries.

While his relationship with Erika Jayne is estranged, she has not been criminally charged. Yet, the couple’s extravagant lifestyle remains a stark backdrop to the pain of those defrauded.