ABC News | Attorney Neama Rahmani discusses wire fraud conviction of ex-lawyer Tom Girardi

after being convicted of stealing Millions from his clients in a decade long Ponzi scheme the 85-year-old is best known for winning a record settlement in the Aron Brockovich case now he's been found guilty on four counts of wire fraud Chief National correspondent MC Gutman has the latest I did more than she did Tom gerardi a once legendary lawyer and a strange husband of Real Housewife star Erica Jane responding to his guilty verdict with a single word anything to say sir no a jury finding the 85-year-old legal Titan guilty on all four counts of wire fraud agreeing that he stole millions of dollars from his own clients many of them victims of disasters and accidents I cried when I heard the verdict I mean this it's not really a happy moment how could it be happy to know that for 40 years this man walked on people in their worst day in their worst moment than they're homeless and he's flying on a jet and going from Country Club to Country Club with people's money it's not a happy day but it's the first step in making it right Gerard's fall captured the attention of the country in part because he'd soared so high gaining Fame after winning a massive settlement from a California utility in a case that inspired the movie Aon Brockovich his Fame also attached to his ex-wife gerardi often appearing alongside Erica Jane on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills I love you thank you for meeting me instead of having lunch with a bunch of gnarly insurance people I got you she hasn't been charged with a crime but her name was mentioned by prosecutors government laying out how Gerard used $20 million to help fund her career including elaborate music [Music] videos gerardi had pleaded not guilty a jury finding that gerardi deliberately stole client money and lied to cover it up his insatiable appetite for money is what led him to court and what led to this verdict today his defense maintained that gerardi depended on the wrong people and blamed his Chief Financial Officer who they say stole all the money the CFO has pleaded not guilty Diane gerardi is currently in an assisted living facility long way from Beverly Hills mansion he'll be sentenced in December and faces 80 years possibly more in prison and remember he's already 85 but first he has another embezzlement trial in Chicago set for next year for allegedly stealing money from the families of the victims of the 2018 Lion Air crash in Indonesia he has pleaded not guilty Diana Chief National correspondent Matt Gutman thank you and former Federal prosecutor and president of West Coast trial lawyers Nema Romani joins me now for more on this Nema thanks for coming on what do you make of this guilty verdict and what do you think jurors had to consider in order to get to this decision Diane It's a tremendous Fall From Grace from probably the most rich and Powerful lawyer in California maybe even the country and the evidence was overwhelming J tried to point the finger at his CFO and others but he was personally profiting lived in a $20 million house had multiple private jets but millions of dollars in expensive jewelry for his ex-wife Erica Jane and it was his own words in voicemails and in emails to clients lying about their settlement funds sometimes saying that the settlements were significantly less or they were held up by a judge or medical leans and that just wasn't true he was pocketing that money and using settlements from newer cases to pay off clients in older cases just like any other fraudster in a Ponzi scheme and the juror saw right through that Nema Gerard's lawyers argued he was mentally incompetent he didn't know what he was doing because he suffers from dementia but he was also deemed able to assist in his own defense and he took the witness stand in his own defense so what kind of an impact do you think his testimony had on the case Diane his testimony was everything and in any criminal case when a criminal defendant testifies usually the case will come down to his or her likability credibility and testimony and in a surprising turn last week gerardi took the stand now before trial he tried to convince the judge that he was incompetent and the I said no you can assist in your own defense and you know what you're doing and you're going to stand trial and you're going to face these victims in Justice and JY tried again to look at the jurors and he Fain that ignorance that frail Health that he didn't know the names of even his own lawyers and just like Harvey Weinstein and others have tried to hail Mary type defense where they've entered court and presented the frail victim ultimately he wasn't the victim at all he had defrauded victims and that's why the jury returned the verdict it did so quickly in less than one day now gerardi blamed his firm's former Chief accountant Chris Cayman for the missing money Cayman is charged with multiple fraud counts himself for allegedly ating and a betting he's currently in federal custody so what's the latest on his case well cayman's case is going to proceed he's also going to be prosecuted but I thought the US attorney's office did a good job of showing that Cayman was involved in the conspiracy to fraud these clients gerardi didn't do it alone and like in many criminal cases where there's a co-defendant or a co-conspirator we see finger pointing but now that gerardia has been convicted I think Cayman will be convicted in short order as well he was also personally benefiting he was paying his girlfriend really this is the cardinal sin for a loyal to steal money from clients and you know as a former prosecutor turned plaintiff's lawyer like gerardi it's a really much maligned profession and when there's folks like this that steal money from victims during their Darkest Day where they've lost a loved one or suffered a catastrophic injury it's really a black eye for the entire profession so I wouldn't be surprised if Cayman goes down quickly as well so Nema back to gerardi he's 85 years old now he faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each of these four counts 80 years total so what do you expect from his sentencing and what happens next D I think he's going to get at least 10 years in federal prison and this is why there were over 200 St Bar complaints against Tom gerardi and they didn't act because he rubbed elbows with politicians and he had tremendous influence over the California State Bar so finally it was a federal judge that referred this case for prosecution after many years of complaints by clients that jity was stealing money from them so I think there's going to be a lot of pressure on this judge to throw the book at Tom gerardy because not only did he do this for so many years and Escape justice but he took the witness stand he perjured himself he lied he told the jurors that his clients were paid every cent that they were owed so given how egregious and Brazen this fraudulent scheme was and given the federal sentencing guidelines that Bas that advisory sentence on the amount of the fraud we're talking about more than $15 million here Tom Gerard is likely going to die in federal prison ding interesting former Federal prosecutor president of West Coast trial lawyers Nima Romani thank you you thank you