Lion Air Crash Settlement: Three Girardi Keese Insiders Sentenced Over Money Withheld From Victims' Families

Case from 2023–2026 (U.S. Attorney's Office latest release: March 5, 2026). Published on Scammers.com Oct. 16, 2026; case status is current as of that date.

Three people who worked at the California law firm Girardi Keese have now been sentenced in federal court in Chicago over settlement money that the firm held back from relatives of people killed in the 2018 crash of Lion Air Flight 610. The most recent, attorney Keith Griffin, pleaded guilty March 5, 2026, to criminal contempt of court, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced [1]. News reports say he was sentenced Aug. 6, 2026, to one day in prison, credited as time served [4] [5].

Important: Firm founder Thomas Girardi was also charged in Chicago in 2023, but those charges were dropped at prosecutors' request in May 2025 [6]. He was not convicted in the Chicago case. His conviction and prison sentence came from a separate case in Los Angeles involving other clients.

What happened to the settlement money

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office [1] [2]:

1. The lawsuits: Girardi Keese represented relatives of people killed when Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea in 2018. The firm sued the plane's maker, Boeing Co., in federal court in Chicago and settled in 2020.
2. The court order: U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin ordered the settlement money, which included a total of $7.5 million, sent to each client as soon as practicable.
3. The money arrived: Boeing wired the funds into the firm's client trust account in March 2020.
4. The clients weren't paid: For the next eight months, the firm did not pay the full amounts despite the clients' repeated demands, Griffin admitted.
5. False excuses: The 2023 indictment alleged clients were falsely told the Covid-19 pandemic, or "serious issues" with Boeing, were delaying payment [3].
6. How families were made whole: The families eventually received their money when another law firm's insurer paid it.

The people sentenced

Keith Griffin, 54, Temple City, Calif., attorney [1]

• Plea: guilty to one count of criminal contempt on March 5, 2026, before U.S. District Judge LaShonda A. Hunt. He admitted he knew for eight months the clients had not been paid in full and confronted Thomas Girardi about it several times.
• Sentence: one day in prison, credited as time served, two years of supervised release and a $100 assessment, imposed Aug. 6, 2026, according to news reports [4] [5].

David R. Lira, 65, Pasadena, Calif., attorney and Thomas Girardi's son-in-law [2]

• Plea: guilty in 2025 to criminal contempt for willfully failing to follow Judge Durkin's payment order. He admitted he knew Girardi had misappropriated the money.
• Sentence: four months in federal prison, four months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service [1].

Christopher Kamon, 51, Palos Verdes, Calif., the firm's former chief financial officer [1]

• Plea: guilty in 2025 to wire fraud for helping Girardi embezzle the Lion Air clients' settlement funds.
• Sentence: more than five years in federal prison, running at the same time as a 10-year sentence he received in federal court in Los Angeles for a related embezzlement scheme.

Thomas Girardi

Thomas V. Girardi was indicted in Chicago in 2023 with Lira and Kamon on wire fraud and contempt charges [3]. The Chicago charges were dismissed at prosecutors' request in May 2025 [6]. Separately, a federal jury in Los Angeles convicted Girardi in 2024 of embezzling settlement money from other clients, and he was sentenced in 2025 to more than seven years in prison [1]. Prosecutors in Los Angeles told that court at his sentencing that Girardi had misappropriated the Lion Air settlement funds.

Red flags for anyone awaiting a settlement

• Your lawyer confirms a settlement but keeps delaying payment with vague excuses.
• You can't get a straight answer about when money reached the firm's trust account.
• Excuses blaming the other side (such as "issues with the defendant") after the case has settled.

What to do if your settlement is delayed

1. Ask in writing when the funds were received and for an accounting of the trust account.
2. Contact the defendant's lawyers or the court to confirm when payment was made.
3. Report concerns to your state bar. Many states also run client security funds that repay clients whose lawyers stole from them.

Case status (as of Oct. 16, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 16, 2026	Source
Keith Griffin, 54, Temple City, Calif.	N.D. Ill. (Judge Hunt)	Pleaded guilty to criminal contempt March 5, 2026; sentenced Aug. 6, 2026, to time served (one day) and two years' supervised release, per news reports	[1], [4], [5]
David R. Lira, 65, Pasadena, Calif.	N.D. Ill. (Judge Rowland)	Pleaded guilty to criminal contempt in 2025; sentenced to 4 months in prison and 4 months' home confinement	[1], [2]
Christopher Kamon, 51, Palos Verdes, Calif.	N.D. Ill.	Pleaded guilty to wire fraud in 2025; sentenced to more than 5 years, concurrent with a 10-year C.D. Cal. sentence	[1]
Thomas V. Girardi	N.D. Ill.	Chicago charges dismissed at prosecutors' request, May 2025. Not convicted in this case	[6]

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "California Attorney Guilty of Federal Contempt Charge for Failing To Ensure Distribution of Settlement Funds to Relatives of Victims of Lion Air Flight 610," March 5, 2026. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/california-attorney-guilty-federal-contempt-charge-failing-ensure-distribution-0
2. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "California Attorney Guilty of Federal Contempt Charge for Failing To Ensure Distribution of Settlement Funds to Relatives of Victims of Lion Air Flight 610," June 6, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/california-attorney-guilty-federal-contempt-charge-failing-ensure-distribution
3. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "California Attorneys Charged With Misappropriating Settlement Funds Intended for Relatives of Victims of Lion Air Flight 610," Feb. 1, 2023. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/california-attorneys-charged-misappropriating-settlement-funds-intended-relatives
4. Bloomberg Law, "Ex-Girardi Keese Lawyer Given Time Served in Client-Funds Case," Aug. 2026. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/ex-girardi-keese-lawyer-given-time-served-in-client-funds-case
5. Hoodline, "Keith Griffin Sentenced in Girardi Keese Lion Air Case," Aug. 7, 2026. https://hoodline.com/2026/08/ex-girardi-lawyer-gets-one-day-in-prison-over-withheld-crash-victim-funds/
6. Bloomberg Law, "Tom Girardi's Chicago Charges Dropped at Prosecutor's Request," May 2025. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/tom-girardis-chicago-charges-dropped-at-prosecutors-request

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