The legal battle between porn actress Stormy Daniels and her former lawyer Michael Avenatti ended with a four-year prison sentence for Avenatti. In issuing the sentence Thursday, Manhattan federal court judge Jesse M. Furman said the sentence will mean that Avenatti will spend another 2 1/2 years in prison on top of the 2 1/2 years he is already serving after he was convicted of trying to extort Nike for $25 million.
“It’s a very sad day for Michael Avenatti. The consequences he suffered before he even stepped into the courtroom today were massive,” Avenatti lawyer Robert Baum said. “He is ridiculed, disgraced as a lawyer. He lost his ability to practice. He loved the practice of law.”
Avenatti was convicted of stealing about $300,000 of Daniels’ advance on her book “Full Disclosure.” The book deal Daniels signed provided an $800,000 payout. Avenatti rose to fame by representing Daniels during her legal battles with then-President Donald Trump. Those legal battles were meant to free Daniels from a $130,000 hush payment she received shortly before the 2016 presidential election to remain silent about a tryst she said she had with Trump a decade earlier. Trump denied that happened.
Judge Furman said the theft was done “out of desperation” when Avenatti’s law firm was struggling. Furman called Avenatti’s behavior “craven and egregious” and blamed it on “blind ambition.”
“It’s been three years since [Daniels] first discovered what Mr. Avenatti had done, and she was devastated,” Daniels lawyer Clark Brewser said after the sentence was handed down. “I’m proud of the system and happy for Stormy, as well.”
The legal troubles for Avenatti may not be over yet. He faces a retrial in California on charges that he cheated clients and others of millions of dollars in that state.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
