A California attorney has pleaded guilty in federal court in Chicago to criminal contempt for failing to comply with a court order regarding the distribution of settlement funds to relatives of victims killed in the Lion Air Flight 610 crash.
Keith Griffin, 54, from Temple City, California, entered his plea before U.S. District Judge LaShonda A. Hunt in the Northern District of Illinois. Sentencing is scheduled for August 6, 2026.
Griffin was employed by Girardi Keese, a personal injury law firm based in California that represented families of those who died in the 2018 crash over the Java Sea. The firm filed civil lawsuits against Boeing Co., which were settled in 2020. As part of those settlements, U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin ordered that $7.5 million be distributed to clients as soon as possible.
According to Griffin's plea agreement, although Boeing wired the funds into Girardi Keese’s client trust account in March 2020, he knew for eight months afterward that the full amount was not distributed to clients as required by Judge Durkin’s order and despite repeated inquiries from clients.
Griffin stated: "On multiple occasions he confronted another attorney at the firm, Thomas Girardi, about paying the money to the clients." However, he acknowledged knowing that Girardi did not distribute those funds during this period despite being aware of Judge Durkin's directive. Eventually, another law firm's insurer paid out the settlement funds to the victims' families.
The guilty plea was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Chicago Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared Hasten and Emily Vermylen are prosecuting the case.
Thomas Girardi, age 86 and also associated with Girardi Keese, was convicted in Los Angeles federal court in 2024 for embezzling millions from other clients’ settlements and had previously misappropriated settlement funds related to Lion Air Flight 610 according to prosecutors there. He is currently serving more than seven years in federal prison.
Other employees involved include David Lira (65), an attorney at Girardi Keese who last year pleaded guilty to criminal contempt for willfully failing to follow Judge Durkin’s payment order; Lira received four months each of federal prison and home confinement plus community service requirements. Christopher Kamon (51), former Chief Financial Officer at Girardi Keese, also pleaded guilty last year—this time on a wire fraud charge related to helping embezzle settlement funds—and received a sentence exceeding five years concurrent with a ten-year sentence imposed earlier in Los Angeles for related offenses.
