Erika Jayne finally breaks  silence on ex Tom Girardi’s jail sentence for swindling clients out of $15million

Erika Jayne recently expressed her feelings publicly, a few days following the imprisonment sentence of her ex-spouse, Tom Girardi, who was found guilty on several fraud allegations.

86-year-old Giradi is confronted with the prospect of dying in prison, having been sentenced to seven years and three months in a federal penitentiary. This sentence followed his conviction for defrauding his clients – many of whom were severely injured or mourning their losses – out of approximately $15 million in settlement payments.

On the Friday, June 13th episode of Diamonds in the Rough with Teddi Mellencamp, Erika, who is 53 years old, shared that she found out about Girardi’s tragic news while she was in London for a tour. The conversation was open and honest.

The television personality, who had been married to Girardi for twenty years, shared: “Then, only ten minutes prior to our second performance, I received the information that Tom was being incarcerated. … It’s painful.

Refrasing the sentence: ‘It stirs up old healing scars, and it’s something that, you know, I had a packed theater all for myself, and I was so grateful. My favorite spot in the world is on stage. So while I was happy… there was a small part of me that felt a bit disappointed.’

I felt quite disheartened since the crowd had come to support me, yet a tiny part of me, about five percent, found itself wallowing in self-pity. The remaining ninety-five percent of me was fully present and engaged.

On this particular day, I faced my sentence, marking the second performance. The first one went without a hitch. My second show, despite being excellent overall, had a small flaw: about 5%, which should have been delivered to the audience. Instead, I found myself engrossed in self-pity.

The reality star said she struggled to ‘fight back thoughts and emotions’ during her performance.

Erika, along with Girardi, was implicated for misusing funds to support their expensive ways of living. However, she wasn’t indicted for any wrongdoing.

Apart from serving his prison term, Girardi was also mandated to repay a total of $2,310,247 to the victims he wronged and was fined $35,000.

Judge Josephine L. Staton, who delivered the verdict, directed Peter Girardi to report to federal authorities by July 17th. This ruling was made in a courthouse located in downtown Los Angeles on June 3rd, which coincidentally fell on Mr. Girardi’s 86th birthday.

A jury found the once-powerful attorney guilty on four counts of wire fraud in August.

The renowned lawyer, Girardi, who established the prestigious LA law firm Girardi & Keese following his battle against a major California utility company that was depicted in the Academy Award-winning film Erin Brockovich, denied guilt on four charges (he had been charged with five counts of wire fraud in 2023).

In 2020, his extravagant career took a dramatic fall as allegations surfaced that he had embezzled millions from the compensation settlements he secured for victims of the 2018 Lion Air plane crash in Indonesia, where a devastating loss of 189 lives occurred.

In addition to allegations stemming from the crash, Girardi faced separate criminal accusations in Chicago, which included eight charges of wire fraud and four counts of violating a court order. However, these charges were dismissed after his conviction in California. He maintained his innocence by pleading not guilty in that case.

In a press statement, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli labeled an individual as a deceptive fraudster rather than a crusader for justice. This individual, claiming to be a champion of justice, was actually a thief and a liar who swindled his unsuspecting clients out of millions of dollars.

In simpler terms, we’ll firmly pursue legal action against dishonest lawyers involved in illegal activities, as well as their accomplices.

Legal representatives for Girardi, who received a diagnosis of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in 2021, expressed worries about the defendant living in jail due to his health issues.

Lawyer Sam Cross, one of Girardi’s legal team, stated that given the defendant’s ongoing health issues, it is likely he will serve out the remainder of his life behind bars, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

‘Should Tom Girardi die in prison?’ he asked the judge multiple times in remarks. 

On Monday, Cross requested the judge to allow Girardi to remain in his present assisted living center rather than transferring him to a federal penitentiary, contending that he wouldn’t get the necessary care in a prison setting.

According to Deadline, Cross expressed to the judge that we think he requires a specific kind of medical care or intervention.

He portrayed Girardi as ‘fragile and old’ and contended that he could potentially be subjected to ‘manipulation or mistreatment’ in a penal institution.

However, the judge eventually found themselves at odds with this viewpoint, basing their decision on the testimonies provided by a forensic psychologist from the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), a neuropsychologist from the BOP, and the apparent self-awareness shown by Girardi.

She determined that it would be safe to imprison Girardi at a United States Bureau of Prisons institution. In her words, “He will be assigned to the suitable institution.

As a lifestyle expert, I’ve closely followed the trial of Girardi, and it’s become clear that questions about his mental competence have played a significant role. His legal team has argued that he needs a new trial due to his inability to assist them effectively, memory lapses, and concerns about his overall fitness for court proceedings before a jury. However, prosecutors have suggested that these issues might not be as they seem, alleging that Girardi has been feigning dementia as a way to escape accountability for his alleged crimes, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

By January 2024, Girardi had been given the green light to face trial, as U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton ruled that he was mentally fit for trial proceedings, even though he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

Initially, a court-assigned psychologist had declared Girardi as mentally sound in June 2023. However, his lawyers frequently contested this status.

According to neuropsychologist Dr. Diana Goldstein, she has completed her evaluation and believes, among other points, that [Girardi] is capable of facing a court trial. However, the specific reasons behind this conclusion and her comprehensive findings are not specified in her statement.

According to Yahoo News, Goldstein’s report, sealed and partially redacted by Girardi’s legal team, is not fully accessible to the prosecutors who initially hired him.

According to a sworn statement by California psychiatrist, Dr. Nathan Lavid, it was stated that Girardi was diagnosed with late-onset Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, as reported by the media.

In February 2021, following his brother’s mental evaluation, Robert Girardi took over the role of conservator, managing affairs on behalf of his brother, as per reports from The New York Post.

At the court case, it was testified that the disgraced lawyer treated his clients’ settlement money as if it were his own savings account from 2010 to 2020.

Previously, Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Paetty described Girardi Kees as a notorious nest of swindlers, with Tom Girardi serving as their mastermind.

‘Girardi Keese was a house of cards built on the lies of Tom Girardi.’

Girardi was found to have orchestrated a large-scale pyramid scam, deceiving clients and misusing the millions they entrusted him with, which he spent on personal extravagances such as private jets, high-end automobiles, elite club subscriptions, costly jewelry for his third wife, a former go-go dancer named Jayne, and an additional $20 million to support her acting aspirations.

For two decades, the pair had been a duo, but following the accusations against Lion Air, Jayne initiated the divorce process. However, due to Girardi Keese filing for bankruptcy in 2021 with over $100 million in liabilities, the divorce proceedings have been delayed.

It appears Jayne didn’t attend her soon-to-be ex-husband’s court trial, and it’s uncertain if she was present during the sentencing on Tuesday. However, she did not discuss her estranged husband’s legal issues on Instagram that day. Instead, at 7:15AM PT, she highlighted her new Vogue article on Instagram.

2022 saw Girardi being disqualified due to accusations made against him. His legal team, however, presented him as a person struggling with dementia.

‘He got old, he got sick, he lost his mind,’ his attorney Charles Snyder previously told the court.

‘All the lights were on but there was nobody home. He lost touch with reality.’

In addition to implicating Girardi himself, his legal representatives also accused Christopher Kamon, aged 49, the former CFO of Girardi Keese, of embezzling anywhere from $50 million to $100 million from the firm.

In April, Kamon admitted guilt for two charges of wire fraud and received a sentence of 10 years and nine months in a federal penitentiary during a different trial.

At the trial, the prosecution informed the jury that Girardi targeted his clients during their most challenging times – when they were battling severe injuries or grieving the loss of dear ones.

In a heartrending twist of events, Joe Ruigomez, who was struggling financially due to the massive medical expenses resulting from the tragic gas explosion at his residence in 2020 that claimed the life of his girlfriend, was given incorrect information by Girardi regarding his compensation from PG&E utility. Instead of the reported $5 million, he was actually entitled to a settlement of $50 million.

A different client of Girardi, named Judy Selberg, enlisted the services of the previously renowned attorney to file a wrongful death lawsuit following the unfortunate death of her husband Paul in a boating mishap that occurred in April 2018.

Girardi was awarded half a million dollars for her, yet even after the conviction, over four years following the agreement, a substantial part of the money is yet to be paid.

Additionally, he highlighted the necessity of Erica Saldana’s $2.5 million settlement, an amount crucial for covering her one-year-old son’s exorbitant medical bills resulting from the tragic automobile accident they both endured.

Josie Hernandez was forced to file for bankruptcy, as Robert Girardi failed to provide the compensation she was entitled to following a medical device-related injury claim.

In each of these instances, when clients contacted Girardi about receiving their funds, he would provide reasons such as a lien or delay in the settlement, an IRS matter or a court’s approval being required before payment could be made. However, all these explanations turned out to be unfounded.

In adherence to my duties as a truthful confidant, I’d like to clarify that on numerous occasions, I had misled my clients about the reasons for their unpaid earnings. This deception was not born out of benevolence, but rather due to a desire to conceal the fact that the funds were no longer available – they had already been expended.

hidden from view, he was stealing money from his clients’ accounts. Such behavior was heartless and unjust towards the affected parties.

‘He purchased two luxury jets when his clients were yet to receive their payments. This incident serves as a stark reminder of broken trust and excessive greed.’

In just about four and a half hours, spread across one afternoon and the next morning, the jury composed of seven men and five women managed to deliver their guilty verdicts. They spent two hours pondering over the case on the first day and an additional 1.5 hours on the second day.

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2025-06-13 17:35