Lawyer Tom Girardi's son-in-law pleads guilty in settlement funds case

By David Thomas

June 5 (Reuters) - David Lira, the son-in-law of convicted California attorney Tom Girardi and a former member of Girardi's now-defunct law firm, pleaded guilty on Thursday to criminal contempt in connection with Girardi's failure to pay millions of dollars in client settlement funds.

Lira pleaded guilty to one criminal contempt charge before U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland in Chicago, according to his lawyer Damon Cheronis and a copy of his plea agreement. Prosecutors agreed to drop the remaining charges after Lira is sentenced.

Sentencing has been set for October, Cheronis said.

A spokesperson for the Chicago U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment.

Federal prosecutors in Chicago had accused Lira, Girardi and Christopher Kamon, the former chief financial officer of their law firm Girardi Keese, of misappropriating more than $3 million in client funds owed to families of the victims of the 2018 Boeing 737 MAX Lion Air Flight 610 crash in Indonesia. The crash killed all 189 onboard.

Lira had initially pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud, criminal contempt, and making false statements to a judge in connection with the Lion Air case. A trial was set for July 2025.

Lira's plea agreement with the Chicago U.S. Attorney's office states that he "knew that Girardi failed to distribute Lion Air Clients' settlement funds in contravention of" court orders by U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin.

"As stated in the plea agreement, Mr. Lira continually asked Mr. Girardi to pay these clients their rightful settlement money pursuant to the court order, however Girardi did not," Cheronis said in a statement. "Mr. Lira was also subject to that court order."

Lira's guilty plea comes two days after Girardi was sentenced to more than seven years in prison by a federal judge in Los Angeles after a jury convicted him on similar charges. Cheronis said Lira's plea change were not related to Girardi's sentencing.

Rowland last month dismissed the Chicago charges against Girardi, after prosecutors sought their dismissal in light of the then-pending California sentencing.

Kamon pleaded guilty to counts of wire fraud and was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison in the California case. He has agreed to plead guilty to the Lion Air charges at a hearing in Chicago federal court scheduled for next month.