Michael Avenatti, who gives a whole new meaning to the term “criminal lawyer” has been given a prison sentence of four years for ripping off stripper Stormy Daniels, and will probably not be appearing on CNN anytime in the near future. Avenatti was on trial for ripping off nearly $300,000 dollars from Stephanie Clifford–better known by her stripper name of Stormy Daniels.
Avenatti told the judge:
“I believed we could take down a sitting American president who was the biggest threat to our democracy in modern times.”
If he thought it was that important, you would think he would have hired a competent lawyer to handle the case, wouldn’t you? The prosecution obviously assigned a competent lawyer to prosecute him. See how much better that worked out. Of course, if Avenatti was more than an ambulance-chasing shyster, he would have realized that. Evidently, he won money for his clients, but giving it to them was where he had trouble.
OK – now Avenatti sentencing in Stormy Daniels case. He is in Courtroom 318 in prison beige. Inner City Press covered trial and hot dog (scam) story https://t.co/UcYT9swgl1 and will live tweet this sentencing, thread below https://t.co/noBohIbGI9
— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) June 2, 2022
“Avenatti: I deserve just punishment. I stand by the sincerity of my letter to Ms. Daniels. I will never practice law again. I will forever be branded a “disgraced lawyer” and worse. I may never recover any semblance of a normal life or peace. (Sniffles)…Avenatti: I received many awards. This does not excuse my conduct in this case. I represented Ms Daniels because she was an underdog. I believed we could take down a sitting American president who was the single biggest threat to American democracy in modern times.”
“Judge Furman: A four year sentence, some but not all consecutive with the Nike case sentence, will be appropriate. Giving Mr. Avenatti an additional thirty months is what I am imposing. You are remanded for 48 months – 18 concurrent to the Nike case…Judge Furman: Also three years of supervised release and a search condition for his electronic communications. You will pay restitution of $148,000 through the Clerk of this Court, for payment to Ms. Daniels. No interest on it, you cannot afford it.”
CNN’s report on his sentencing notes Avenatti is still in legal hot water (excerpt):
Avenatti was convicted in February of one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. He faced as much as 20 years on the wire fraud charge and a mandatory two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft.
Avenatti is currently serving a 30-month prison sentence for attempting to extort over $20 million from Nike by threatening to go public with damaging information unless they paid him. He goes on trial next month in California on charges alleging that he embezzled $10 million in settlement funds from at least five clients. He has also been charged with tax fraud and bankruptcy fraud and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
