Erika Jayne looked somber when she resurfaced on Wednesday, the first time she’s been seen since her ex-husband, disbarred attorney Tom Girardi, was convicted of stealing $15 million from clients.
The once-influential lawyer, 85, was found guilty Tuesday of four counts of defrauding seriously injured or grieving people he represented of their settlement fees.
Girardi was accused of running a massive pyramid scheme, lying to his clients and using the embezzled millions to fund his own extravagant lifestyle, including private jets, luxury cars, exclusive club memberships and expensive jewelry for Jayne, plus $20 million to finance her acting career.
Jayne, who is best known for her role on The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills, looked somber when she was spotted in Los Angeles this week.
She appeared to be wearing no makeup and opted for a casual outfit consisting of a loose-fitting shirt, cut-off sweatpants and slippers.
Erika Jayne looked dejected as she resurfaced on Wednesday, the first time she’s been seen since her estranged husband Tom Girardi was convicted of stealing $15 million from clients
Her appearance came a day after Girardi was sentenced. He sat stolid and unemotional as Judge Josephine Staton announced the sentences. Both charges carry sentences of up to 20 years in prison.
Dressed in rumpled khaki pants, an open blue-and-white plaid shirt and the same shabby gray jacket with blue lining he had worn for most of the three-week trial, Girardi was virtually unrecognizable as the superlawyer who once made best-dressed lists for his $2,000-plus designer suits and whose success in winning huge settlements in personal injury cases landed him on the covers of magazines.
The jury, consisting of seven men and five women, took just four and a half hours to reach a guilty verdict, compared to two hours on Tuesday and two and a half hours yesterday.
Girardi is due back in court on December 6 to hear his sentence.
Girardi, who founded the prestigious Los Angeles law firm Girardi & Keese after his battle with a California energy giant inspired the Oscar-winning film Erin Brockovich, was charged with four counts of wire fraud. He pleaded not guilty to any of the charges.
His successful career came to an end in 2020 when he was accused of stealing millions in settlements he received for victims of the 2018 Lion Air plane crash in Indonesia.
Claims from that crash — which killed 189 people — are the basis for separate criminal charges against Girardi that are still pending in Chicago. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges as well.
During the trial, the jury heard that between 2010 and 2020, the disgraced attorney used his clients’ settlement money “as a personal piggy bank.”
She appeared to be wearing no makeup and opted for a casual outfit consisting of a loose-fitting shirt, cut-off sweatpants and slippers.
Disgraced attorney Tom Girardi has been found guilty of stealing more than $15 million from his clients. He will be seen in court Tuesday for sentencing
The former attorney and estranged husband of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne has been charged with four counts of wire fraud
“Girardi Keese was a gang of robbers and Tom Girardi was the main robber,” Assistant District Attorney Scott Paetty told the court Monday.
‘Girardi Keese was a house of cards built on Tom Girardi’s lies.’
Jayne and Girardi were together for 21 years, but their divorce — which Jayne filed shortly after the Lion Air allegations — has been on hold since Girardi Keese filed for bankruptcy in 2021, citing more than $100 million in debt. Jayne never appeared at her soon-to-be ex-husband’s trial.
Girardi, who was disbarred in 2022 following the allegations against him, was portrayed by his defense team as suffering from dementia.
“He got old, he got sick, he lost his mind,” his attorney Charles Snyder told the court.
“All the lights were on, but no one was home. He lost touch with reality.”
Girady and his legal team also pointed to another man, Christopher Kamon, 49, Girard Keese’s chief financial officer, who they say stole between $50 million and $100 million from the company.
Kamon is due to appear in a separate trial soon, facing charges similar to those of Girardi.
Girardi’s defense team has consistently argued that he is mentally unfit to stand trial due to cognitive decline. However, a federal judge ruled earlier this year that he is competent to proceed with the case
During the trial, prosecutors told the jury that Girardi targeted clients who were in “their darkest hours,” suffering horrific injuries or grieving the deaths of loved ones.
Joe Ruigomez, who desperately needed money to pay massive medical bills for horrific injuries he suffered in a 2020 gas explosion at his home that killed his girlfriend, was told by Girardi that the settlement he had received from utility company PG&E was $5 million, when in fact it was $50 million.
Another of Girardi’s clients, Judy Selberg, hired the once-lauded attorney to file a wrongful death lawsuit after her husband Paul died in a boating accident in April 2018.
Girardi won $500,000 for her, but now, more than four years after the settlement, she still has to pay back a large portion of it.
He also blocked Erica Saldana’s $2.5 million settlement, which she needed to pay medical bills for serious injuries her 1-year-old son sustained in a car accident.
And Josie Hernandez had to file for bankruptcy after Girardi failed to pay her the money she was owed from a medical device accident settlement.
In all of these cases, when clients called or emailed Girardi to ask when they would get their money, he came up with excuses such as that there was a lien or “holdback” on the settlement, that there was some problem with the IRS, or that a judge had to give “approval” before the money could be paid. All of these claims were false.
“He lied to his clients over and over again about why they weren’t getting paid,” Assistant District Attorney Ali Moghaddas told the court. “He lied to them because he didn’t want to give them their money because it was gone… it was already spent.
‘Behind the curtain he stole his clients’ money. It was simply cruel to treat victims this way.
“He bought two private jets while his clients were not paid… This case is a simple and sad story of broken trust and greed.”