Days after a judge sentenced legal titan Tom Girardi to seven years in prison for stealing from clients, his son-in-law — formerly a high-ranking attorney at his now-defunct firm — pleaded guilty to a federal charge in Illinois.

David Lira, 65, of Pasadena, admitted Thursday to one count of contempt of court for defying a Chicago judge’s order concerning the distribution of settlement funds to clients whose relatives had perished in a 2018 Indonesian plane crash.

As part of broader litigation to hold Boeing accountable for defects in its 737-MAX jets, Lira and Girardi negotiated payouts totaling $7.5 million for a group of widows and orphans in 2020. But the clients, who lived in Indonesia, did not receive their full settlements.

Evidence would later emerge that Girardi was routinel

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