Tom Girardi has officially started his seven-year-long prison sentence after being found guilty of wire fraud.
Erika Jayne’s ex-husband, 86, reported to the Metropolitan Detention Center Los Angeles on Thursday, July 17, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed to Page Six. Girardi is also listed on the Bureau’s inmate database. His release date is currently unknown.
Girardi’s report to prison comes two years after the former lawyer was first indicted for embezzling over $15 million from his Girardi Keese clients in February 2023. He pleaded not guilty to the five counts of wire fraud at the time.
Jayne, 53, was not charged with any criminal offenses and later spoke with several of Girardi’s victims. “I came here with an open heart to listen to what’s going on, hear what happened and figure out how to be a part of how to move forward together in a way that’s beneficial for all victims,” she told Page Six in July 2023.
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Despite his 2021 dementia diagnosis, Girardi was declared competent to stand trial in January 2024, and his trial started that August in Los Angeles. He was found guilty of four counts of wire fraud following the weeks-long trial’s conclusion that same month.
“Tom Girardi built celebrity status and lured in victims by falsely portraying himself as a ‘Champion of Justice,’” United States Attorney Martin Estrada said in a press release at the time. “In reality, he was a Robin Hood-in-reverse, stealing from the needy to support a 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.”
Akil Davis, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, added in a statement of their own, “Mr. Girardi was retained to advocate for clients who put their trust in him, but instead, lied to them and stole their money to fund his lavish lifestyle. Girardi falsely promoted himself in the media as a pillar of the legal community with a heightened sense of justice, but the clients he wronged for many years have now found actual justice in today’s verdict.”
Ahead of his sentencing, the United States Department of Justice revealed in an August 2024 press release that Girardi could face a maximum of 20 years in prison for each of his four wire fraud counts.
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During the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 14 reunion earlier this year, Andy Cohen questioned Jayne about whether she would visit her ex behind bars. “I thought of visiting him — this is going to sound cold — but when he passes away,” she stated. “There’s nothing to say to this person because he’s not talking clearly. He’s not there, so there’s nothing for us to say to one another.”
She continued, “I’ll never get answers to the questions that I still have. It’s so very sad, why would I? … I’ve worked really hard to make my peace with it, move through the grief and let go. I feel like if I were to … nothing good would come of this.”
Girardi was officially sentenced to serve seven years and three months in prison, as well as pay over $2 million in restitution to his victims, on June 3.
