Tom Girardi’s sentencing delayed as judge weighs prison or medical facility

Tom Girardi, the disbarred lawyer, is seen in the summer outside federal court. Prosecutors have asked the judge to sentence the disbarred lawyer to 14 years in prison and pay more than $3.7 million in restitution, stating that Girardi carried out a “calculated and devastating betrayal of the very people that turned to him for help in their darkest hour.” Defense attorneys said that a sentence of five to seven years was more appropriate and that Girardi should not serve the time in prison, arguing that he has dementia and is “an octogenarian first-time offender convicted of nonviolent crimes who poses no ongoing or future threat to society.” The defense team has argued that keeping Girardi out of prison is more efficient, humane and cost-effective and that he should remain in the locked memory care ward of an Orange County nursing home. “If left in Orange County, he can end his days under the care of his conservatorship, without freedom but with relative decency,” Girardi’s defense attorneys wrote. With the dispute unresolved, U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton delayed the sentencing and instead will schedule a future hearing over “whether defendant should be committed to a suitable facility in lieu of imprisonment.” The judge also ordered that Girardi undergo additional psychiatric or psychological evaluation. “The last-minute delay for Tom’s sentencing feels like a slap in the face,” said Kathy Ruigomez, who testified about how Girardi mishandled millions of dollars of a settlement from Pacific Gas & Electric after her son, Joseph, suffered severe burns in the San Bruno, Calif., gas explosion.