NEW YORK, June 2 (Reuters) – Michael Avenatti, a cheeky California lawyer who faced then-President Donald Trump, was sentenced on Thursday to four years in prison for defrauding his best-known former client, the actress porn Stormy Daniels.
A federal jury convicted Avenatti in February of electronic fraud and aggravated identity theft after a two-week trial, according to prosecutors who embezzled nearly $ 300,000 in book revenue for Daniels. Read more
U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman sentenced Manhattan to federal court, calling Avenatti’s conduct “blatant and blatant.”
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But he said the guidelines calling for Avenatti, 51, to serve a five- or six-year sentence were “unreasonable,” in part because of Avenatti’s successful legal career.
Avenatti, who appeared in court in prison clothes and ankle shackles, recounted a series of legal victories he had achieved for clients he called “disadvantaged” and disputed the prosecutors’ assertion that Daniels took over as a client. to earn a national platform for himself. .
“No one else had the courage to take his case,” Avenatti said before Furman handed down his sentence, speaking from the lectern in the courtroom with an American marshal by his side. “I thought we could overthrow an incumbent U.S. president who was the biggest threat to our democracy in modern times.”
Daniels, whose first name is Stephanie Clifford, is known to receive $ 130,000 from former Trump attorney Michael Cohen in exchange for remaining silent before the 2016 presidential election over alleged sexual encounters. had with Trump, which he has denied.
Avenatti promised to appeal the guilty verdict in the Daniels case, but has not yet done so.
He had already been serving a 2-and-a-half-year sentence following his 2020 federal conviction for attempting to extort millions of dollars from Nike Inc. (NKE.N). He has appealed this conviction.
The eighteen months of Daniels’ sentence will be simultaneously with Nike’s sentence, which means Avenatti faces five years in prison. California is still accused of stealing millions of dollars from other customers.
Prosecutors had recommended that Avenatti receive a “substantial” prison sentence in the Daniels case, including a mandatory two-year sentence for identity theft. nL2N2XJ18V]
Avenatti, who represented himself during the trial, proposed a three-year sentence, with one year concurrent with his conviction for Nike.
Following the sentencing, Avenatti kissed his friends in the audience before being led out of the room by the American marshals. He will return to prison in California to prepare for trial there.
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Report by Luc Cohen in New York; edited by Jonathan Oatis and Noeleen Walder
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