Ex-Girardi Keese Attorney Pleads Guilty to Misappropriating Lion Air Crash Settlement Funds

A former attorney at the now-defunct law firm Girardi Keese, Keith Griffin, pleaded guilty to criminal contempt for his role in failing to distribute $7.5 million in settlement funds to families of victims killed in the 2018 Lion Air Flight 610 crash.

Griffin, 54, of Temple City, California, entered his plea before U.S. District Judge LaShonda A. Hunt in the Northern District of Illinois on March 5, 2026. Sentencing is scheduled for August 6, 2026. Los Angeles Times and The Orange County Register reported on the guilty plea.

The Lion Air Flight 610 Disaster and the Settlement

Lion Air Flight 610, a Boeing 737 Max 8, crashed into the Java Sea on October 29, 2018, killing all 189 people on board. Girardi Keese represented relatives of the victims in civil lawsuits against Boeing, reaching a $7.5 million settlement in 2020. U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin ordered the funds to be distributed promptly to the families.

Griffin’s Role and Admission of Guilt

Despite Boeing wiring the $7.5 million to Girardi Keese’s client trust account in March 2020, Griffin admitted he knew the firm failed to fully distribute the funds to the victims’ families for eight months. He also acknowledged withholding this information from an attorney assisting with the case, violating Judge Durkin’s order and ignoring repeated requests from the families for the money. Griffin confronted Tom Girardi about the delayed payments but was aware Girardi was not complying with the court order.

The Fall of Girardi Keese and Related Convictions

The case is part of a larger legal fallout stemming from the mismanagement of client funds at Girardi Keese, which imploded amid allegations that founder Tom Girardi was running a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. The Recorder notes that the firm collapsed after accusations surfaced regarding Girardi’s financial misconduct.

Tom Girardi, 86, was convicted in 2024 of embezzling millions from clients and is currently serving a seven-year federal prison sentence. David Lira, Girardi’s son-in-law, pleaded guilty to a similar criminal contempt charge and received a four-month prison sentence and four months of home confinement. Christopher Kamon, the firm’s former chief financial officer, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced to over five years in federal prison, concurrent with a ten-year sentence for a related embezzlement scheme.

Victims Ultimately Receive Funds

The Lion Air victims ultimately received their settlement funds when another law firm’s insurer stepped in to cover the outstanding amount.