Tom Girardi, 86, begins 7-year prison sentence for fraud

Tom Girardi’s federal prison sentence has begun, Page Six can confirm.

A spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons tells us exclusively that the 86-year-old turned himself in Thursday in “the late afternoon.”

We’re told he is the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) Los Angeles. Online records also show that he has already been registered as an inmate.

Girardi was sentenced to seven years and three months behind bars for his fraud conviction on June 3, which also happened to be his 86th birthday.

In September 2024, the disbarred attorney was found guilty of embezzling millions from clients at his now-defunct law firm, Girardi & Keese,

Aside from prison time, he was also ordered to pay $2.3 million in restitution to his victims and a $35,000 fine, according to NBC News.

Girardi’s lawyers previously tried to get their high-profile client to serve his sentence at a long-term care facility instead of prison due to his alleged late on-set Alzheimer’s and dementia diagnoses.

In March 2021, Dr. Nathan Lavid, a Long Beach forensic and clinical psychiatrist, wrote in a sworn affidavit that the estranged husband of “Real Housewives” star Erika Jayne was unfit to attend any court proceedings.

“Dementia impairs his ability to understand the hearing,” the physician wrote at the time. “His emotional distress is directly related to his dementia and exacerbated by his confusion.”

Lavid also noted that Girardi’s short-term memory, ability to concentrate and recognition had “moderate impairment,” and that he allegedly suffered “moderate” delusions.

However, in January 2024, a judge found the former attorney competent to stand trial for fraud.

Girardi had been sued for embezzling more than $15 million from his clients, including stealing settlement funds from the families of the victims of the fatal 2018 Lion Air flight.

He was accused of using the money to fund his and Jayne’s once-lavish lifestyle. The “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star has been largely exonerated of any wrongdoing and was dismissed from the suit.

Jayne filed for divorce in November 2020 before Girardi’s legal issues were made public.

The “XXPEN$IVE” singer, 54, is now dating a retired US Army Special Ops agent named John “Shrek” McPhee. Her divorce from Girardi has not yet been finalized.