For the families of those who perished in the 2018 Lion Air crash, which claimed 189 lives, the recent developments in U.S. courts have intensified their anguish, as justice continues to elude them.
Keith Griffin, a California attorney who collaborated with the discredited Hollywood lawyer Tom Girardi on compensation cases stemming from the accident, was sentenced last week by a federal court in Chicago to a single day of imprisonment, with credit for time already served, allowing him to escape any additional incarceration.
Boeing
Girardi’s firm had represented some of the Lion Air victims’ families in lawsuits against Boeing, which ultimately agreed to provide undisclosed compensation following the crash of Lion Air flight JT610 — one of two fatal accidents involving the company’s 737 MAX aircraft.
Griffin subsequently pleaded guilty to criminal contempt of court after acknowledging that he was aware of Girardi’s failure to distribute settlement funds to the victims’ families, despite a court order mandating such payments.
He was also placed on two years of supervised release, requiring him to adhere to court-imposed conditions and to report regularly to probation officials.
His superior, Girardi, was convicted of embezzling more than $2 million intended for the victims’ families, as well as $15 million in other compensation and personal‑injury settlements. Last year, he received a prison term exceeding seven years, declared bankruptcy, and was disbarred.
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