Former celebrity lawyer Tom Girardi has been found competent to stand trial on charges that he bilked clients out of more than $15 million, The Associated Press reported.
The decision was announced Tuesday in a notation on the case docket that said U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton had filed an “order finding defendant competent to stand trial,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
Girardi, 84, is the estranged husband of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Erika Jayne.
Girardi was charged on Feb. 1, 2022, by prosecutors in Chicago and Los Angeles for allegedly bilking more than $18 million in funds belonging to the clients of his law firm, Girardi Keese. He has pleaded not guilty, according to Reuters.
Prosecutors claim Girardi ran a Ponzi scheme, living a lavish lifestyle and bankrolling his wife’s budding music career by using his clients’ settlement money.
His attorneys said that Girardi has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and he could not understand what was going on in the proceedings, help with his defense or, at times, recognize his own lawyers.
Girardi’s attorneys went on to say he is also suffering from memory issues.
Prosecutors told the judge that Girardi, who is living in the memory care section of a nursing home, is exaggerating his condition.
He was disbarred in California in 2022 and faces federal wire fraud charges in Chicago, where he is accused of stealing about $3 million from family members of victims of a 2018 plane crash that killed 189 people, according to AP.
“He’s not above the law,” former client Danny Barnes told the Times. Barnes estimates he lost about $2 million from a settlement in the 1990s for Lockheed workers who said they were poisoned by chemicals used at the aerospace facility.
Girardi’s indictment does not cover Barnes’ claim, but he said Girardi’s prosecution validated all who felt victimized: “He’s done a lot of harm to people. He’s damaged families. He stole our money and our heritage. He knows it, so he should be afraid.”
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