Tom Girardi Trades In Posh Beverly Hills Lifestyle For 'Concrete Cell With a Bunk Bed' — As Dementia Stricken Lawyer Begins 7-Year Prison Sentence for Embezzling
Disgraced lawyer Tom Girardi has reported for prison.
July 18 2025, Published 6:45 p.m. ET
Disgraced lawyer Tom Girardi, the former husband of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne, has reported for prison, RadarOnline.com can confirm.
The 86-year-old, who also suffers from dementia, will now spend the next seven years in a cramped jail cell after being found guilty of embezzling over $15million from his clients.
Giradi once lived the high life with Ericka Jayne on 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.'
The once-respected attorney was forced into bankruptcy back in 2020, after many of his former clients accused him of running his firm like a Ponzi scheme.
Shortly after that, he was diagnosed with dementia and late-onset Alzheimer's disease. His brother Robert was appointed conservator of Girardi, and one of his first moves was to move him out of his multi-million dollar mansion in Pasadena, California.
For the past four years, Girardi has resided in a posh assisted-living facility in Santa Monica, where an around-the-clock staff of nurses helped bathe and dress him, take him to the bathroom, and look after his well-being.
That's all gone now, after he turned himself in to start his sentence in federal prison.
'Any Other Inmate'
Girardi was forced to abandon a luxe nursing home for a cold prison cell.
Prison experts say Girardi won't be given any special treatment from guards, despite his diagnosis.
"The Bureau of Prisons does make accommodations for individuals who are aging and have significant medical issues," Brianna Grover, who works at a prison medical center in Butner, North Carolina, and evaluated Girardi, told the LA Times.
That means he is expected to be treated like any other inmate, and could find himself living with violent, younger offenders or in "a concrete cell with a bunk bed."
In a similar case, U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson told one ill individual: "As awful as Alzheimer's is, it is not a criminal penalty. Alzheimer’s disease is not a get-out-of-jail card."
Death Sentence
Girardi was deemed competent to stand trial despite his dementia diagnosis.
Girardi's defense team had implored the judge to be lenient on the convict and sentence him to a correctional nursing home. They argued a seven-year sentence may as well be a death sentence for the elderly and ill man.
J. Alejandro Barrientos, who was part of the team that represented Girardi during his trial, told the LA Times: "I have not seen an instance where I thought someone got good mental health care (in prison.)
"If you’re elderly and serving a prison sentence, I think it’s kind of harsh in a way that it’s not harsh for someone who’s a lot younger."
Major Impairments
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His lawyers say he will never live long enough to serve seven years.
Last April, Girardi's brother filed two declarations from his own doctor who observed him. Dr. Helena Chui also noted the disgraced lawyer displayed "major impairment” when it came to both short-term and long-term memory
She further claimed Girardi was unable to provide consent to medical treatment "because he or she is either (1) unable to respond knowingly and intelligently regarding medical treatment or (2) unable to participate in a treatment decision by means of a rational thought process, or both."
When Chui met with him a second time, she stated his ability to recall the date and year did not improve. Girardi was also said to struggle with remembering his "current life circumstances and his ability to reason logically."
