Tom Girardi, the now disbarred lawyer who rose to fame successful the real-life Erin Brockovich case and marrying Actual Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne, should endure cognitive testing to find out whether or not he ought to be despatched to jail or a specialised medical facility after his latest fraud conviction, a federal decide dominated Friday.
Girardi, 85, appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom however didn’t communicate at what was initially scheduled as his sentencing listening to. As a substitute of studying whether or not he may obtain some — or all — of the 14 years imprisonment sought by prosecutors, he was ordered by U.S. District Decide Josephine Staton to give up to federal marshals subsequent month and be flown to North Carolina for psychological analysis. His protection legal professionals allege he has dementia. The decide desires the testing to find out whether or not he qualifies for care at a Bureau of Prisons heart serving severely impaired, aged defendants.
Girardi’s protection lawyer, Samuel Cross, balked on the long-distance journey to the federal medical heart in Butner, saying it could be too arduous for his consumer. “Mr. Girardi has particular wants referring to his reminiscence,” Cross stated. “We count on him to deteriorate and never do effectively [in Bureau of Prisons custody]. … There’s no cause this must be finished a continent away.”
Assistant U.S. Lawyer Scott Paetty argued that the U.S. Marshals are “well-versed” at transporting defendants with medical points. “The defendant is ambulatory. He’s not on a respirator, he’s not on a ventilator. They’ll facilitate [his transportation] safely, humanely, and suitably.”
Decide Staton agreed with Paetty. She ordered that Girardi give up by Jan. 7 and be transported to North Carolina the identical day. “I need him going straight from the place he’s to a airplane and ending up at Butner and not using a halfway cease anyplace else,” Decide Staton stated. After his examination that’s anticipated to final not more than 30 days, Girardi is predicted to return for an additional listening to the place Decide Staton will once more take into account his destiny with the additional advantage of the take a look at outcomes.
It was final August that Girardi was discovered responsible of 4 counts of wire fraud for embezzling “tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars}” from the purchasers of his now-shuttered regulation agency Girardi & Keese. Jurors spent lower than a day deliberating after listening to from prosecutors that Girardi diverted cash from his regulation agency’s accounts to pay for personal jet journey, luxurious automobiles, jewellery, memberships to unique golf and social golf equipment, and greater than $25 million in bills for Jayne’s firm, EJ International.
In the course of the 13-day trial, a few of Girardi’s former purchasers testified that that they had been lulled into complacency by Girardi’s position in securing the landmark $333 million settlement towards Pacific Gasoline & Electrical that was featured within the 2000 film Erin Brockovich, the Los Angeles Instances reported.
“Tom Girardi constructed superstar standing and lured in victims by falsely portraying himself as a champion of justice,” U.S. Lawyer Martin Estrada stated after the decision. “In actuality, he was a Robin-Hood-in-reverse, stealing from the needy to assist [his] lavish, Hollywood way of life. Right now’s verdict reveals that the sport is up. We will all now see this defendant for what he was and the victims he callously betrayed.”
Prosecutors stated that between October 2010 and late 2020, Girardi supplied a “litany of lies” to purchasers so he may withhold their settlement cash and use it for himself. Girardi would typically falsely deny the cash had been acquired or declare that it couldn’t be launched till “bogus” necessities reminiscent of tax obligations or judicial authorizations have been happy or obtained, prosecutors stated.
“I trusted him an excessive amount of,” former consumer Joseph Ruigomez, who suffered catastrophic burn accidents as a young person in a 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion, testified on the trial, in response to The Instances. A few of Ruigomez’s $53 million settlement went to compensate different Girardi purchasers in what prosecutors described as a Ponzi scheme.
