Michael Avenatti sentenced to 4 years in prison for cheating on Stormy Daniels
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Insulting attorney Michael Avenatti was sentenced on Thursday to four years in prison for defrauding his former client, adult film star Stormy Daniels, of 300,000.
Avenatti was convicted earlier this year in New York federal court of aggravated assault and wire fraud. He faces up to two years in prison for the former and 20 years for the latter.
In four years, he will be sentenced to 2 1/2 years simultaneously for 30 months, which he was previously given in a separate case for trying to extort মধ্যে 25 million from Nike.
Avenatti spoke for 12 minutes during the sentencing, acknowledging that he had used “series of mistakes” and “poor judgment.”
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“I will forever be marked as a ‘disrespectful lawyer’ and worse,” he said.
Prior to the sentencing, Avenati sent a letter of apology to Daniels, but the judge said the gesture was “too short, too late.”
Avenatti did not want to appear in court for sentencing and requested a sentencing from a distance. Judge Furman dismissed the appeal and ordered him to appear.
“In the court’s view, the gravity and significance of the penal procedure will be worsened by the remote procedure,” Furman wrote.
Daniels happily tweeted, “See you there, b —-! … except I’m flying first class. Buwahaha. ”
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Avenatti gained a reputation as Daniels’ attorney when he was trying to get out of the October 2016 deal where he received $ 130,000 in 2006 for his silence on claims he had an affair with former President Donald Trump. The incident happened when Trump denied it.
Avenatti had a ubiquitous presence on television during the legal battle against Trump. At one point during the height of his notoriety, he envisioned the idea of his own presidential bid.
Former attorney Michael Avenatti, representing himself, cross-examines witness Stormy Daniels during his criminal trial at a U.S. courthouse in Manhattan Borough, New York City, on January 27, 2022, in a sketch of this courtroom.
(Reuters / Jane Rosenberg)
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A separate retrial is pending in federal court in Avenatti, California, where he is accused of stealing about $ 10 million from five clients. A judge declared a misdemeanor in the first trial last August after prosecutors failed to return relevant financial evidence.
Paul Best of The PKB News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.