Tom Girardi found guilty of wire fraud:
'It wasn't a hard decision,' juror says. A federal court jury in Los
Angeles found Tom Girardi, once a legal titan and now a disgraced former
attorney, guilty Tuesday of wire fraud for leading a years long scheme in which he
embezzled tens of millions of dollars. The verdict concluded a 13-day trial in which
prosecutors elicited emotional testimony from former clients, including a burn victim and a
widow whose husband died in a boating accident, employees of the now-closed law
firm Girardi Keese and an outside attorney who struggled to get a woman
the settlement money she'd been granted. Girardi, 85, had been on trial on four counts
of wire fraud; he was found guilty on all four. The jury deliberated for roughly four
hours before delivering a verdict. Girardi, in the same gray blazer he'd
worn throughout the trial, swiveled back and forth in his
chair as he waited to hear his fate. Sentencing is set for Dec. 6. Girardi
will remain free until then. Staton said he is neither a danger to
the community nor a flight risk. Outside the courthouse, juror Miguel
Lopez told The Times the jury believed Girardi was guilty because "all
the evidence was there." He said jurors relied on that evidence,
and "it wasn't a hard decision." “Mr. Girardi got old, and he got sick, and he lost his mind,” Deputy Public Defender
Charles Snyder told the jury on Monday. Snyder argued that Girardi was running the
firm in name only and called it a “Weekend at Bernie’s” situation in which partners at the firm
were “propping him up to keep the party going.” "He has mental problems, but
it just started right now," Lopez said about Girardi. "It wasn't from before." "I know how to sit," the defendant said. But it remained unclear how out of it Girardi
really was, as he jotted down notes on a yellow legal pad while witnesses testified for the
prosecution. At times, Girardi appeared to be trying to direct his lawyers, handing one of them
a paper he'd written on before he took the stand. The guilty verdict was the latest low point for
Girardi, who over the course of his decades-long career cultivated close ties with mayors,
governors, senators, judges and Supreme Court justices. A once-legendary plaintiff's attorney,
he was revered — and feared — by fellow attorneys for the nine-figure settlements he brokered and
the powerful officials he counted as friends. During the news conference Tuesday afternoon, Estrada acknowledged the influence
Girardi had with other lawyers and judges. Girardi's defense lawyers laid the blame for
the massive fraud at Girardi Keese on the firm's longtime chief financial officer, Chris
Kamon, accusing him of stealing more than $50 million. Kamon is also charged with wire fraud
in connection with the theft of client money, along with a separate case in which he
is accused of embezzling funds from the firm to finance the purchase of homes and a
$20,000-per-month payment to his girlfriend. “This was Mr. Kamon’s scheme,”
Snyder said in closing arguments. “This was absolutely not [Girardi’s] fraud.” During the trial, former clients of the firm told
the jury they had been impressed by Girardi's record of successes — including securing a $333-million settlement against Pacific Gas &
Electric featured in the movie “Erin Brockovich." He made promises that everything would be
fine and told them not to worry, they said. In voicemails and letters presented
in court, Girardi repeated the same refrain to frustrated clients asking for the
money they were owed: "Don't be mad at me." Lopez, the juror, said the most
damaging evidence against Girardi were the lies he told clients. Lopez
said the client money was supposed to be in the trust account, and Girardi was
using the money for "personal reasons."