'Real Housewives' Husband and Disbarred Lawyer Tom Girardi Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Fraud Scheme

Tom Girardi, the disbarred personal injury lawyer and husband to a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, was sentenced to seven years in prison after he was convicted of stealing money from his clients.

Girardi, 86, was sentenced by a federal judge in the Central District District of California on Tuesday, June 3, according to the Department of Justice.

In August 2024, Girardi — who has been separated from his wife, Erika Girardi, since 2020 — was convicted of four counts of wire fraud.

Prosecutors previously said Girardi embezzled clients out of $15 million over a span of 10 years, from 2010 to 2020.

“This self-proclaimed ‘champion of justice’ was nothing more than a thief and a liar who conned his vulnerable clients out of millions of dollars,” United States Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement. “My office will vigorously prosecute corrupt lawyers and those who assist them in criminal activities.”

Erika Girardi, known by the name Erika Jayne, and her husband have been engaged in divorce proceedings for the past five years. She did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment following her husband’s sentencing.

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PEOPLE previously reported that in 2022, Girardi moved into a “restricted memory care unit,” having been diagnosed with dementia and late-onset Alzheimer’s the year before.

Prior to his legal issues, Girardi famously took on Pacific Gas and Electric in a 1993 class-action lawsuit, a case that inspired the film Erin Brockovich, starring Julia Roberts.

Girardi was disbarred in California in 2022.