Celebrity attorney Michael Avenatti was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday, following his conviction for defrauding former client and adult film access Stormy Daniels out of almost half a million dollars.
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The disgraced attorney is currently serving a 2½ year prison term related to his conviction for his attempt to extort tens of millions of dollars from Nike. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman ordered Avenatti to 4 years, but allowed 1½ years of his separate sentences to run concurrently — meaning Avenatti will only serve a total of five years.
Judge Furman also ordered Avenatti to pay over $148,000 in restitution and forfeit approximately $290,000.
Judge Furman described the crime as “brazenly stealing from Ms. Daniels and lying to her face, and then defaming her when she called him out on his conduct.”
According to the suit, Avenatti helped Daniels negotiate favorable terms on a book deal for her memoir Full Disclosure that included an $800,000 advance. He then however, sent her literary agent a letter, forging Daniels’ signature, resulting in almost $300,000 being directed into an account that he controlled.
Avenatti represented Daniels — whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford — in her hush-money dispute over the infamous alleged affair with former President Donald Trump.
During the trial, Avenatti represented himself after firing his court-appointed attorneys mid-trial. The prosecution called 10 witnesses, highlighted by Daniels herself, who testified that Avenatti lied to her and betrayed her trust. In his cross-examination of the adult film star, Avenatti attacked her credibility by questioning her about her belief in the paranormal and suggested he was entitled to take a portion of her book advance for work he had done even though it was not outlined in their written contract. Avenatti did not testify or call any witnesses in his defense.
The attorney also presented the judge an apology letter to Daniels he penned last month in which he states, ” It is obvious that I failed you in many respects and that i disappointed you and let you down in multiple ways.” He added, “I wish that we could turn back the clock so that the mistakes I made would never be repeated. I am truly sorry.”
Avenatti is appealing the Nike conviction and stated he intends to appeal the Stormy Daniels judgement as well. He was transferred from FCI Terminal Island in California, where he is serving the Nike sentence, to the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York for Thursday’s sentencing. He will return to the sunshine state for his trial next month.
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