Incarcerated lawyer Michael Avenatti was sentenced to 14 years in prison yesterday.
He was also ordered to pay $7 million in restitution after admitting he cheated four of his clients out of millions.
U.S. District Judge James V. Selna said during a hearing in Santa Ana, California that the sentence will run consecutively to the five-year prison term he is currently serving for separate convictions in New York.
According to the AP, Avenatti pleaded guilty earlier this year to four counts of wire fraud and a tax-related charge without reaching a plea deal with federal prosecutors.
He was accused of negotiating and collecting settlement payments on behalf of his clients and instead funneling the money to accounts he controlled.
Before sentencing, Avenatti apologized to the four victims in the case, three of whom were in the courtroom,
I am deeply remorseful and contrite. There is no doubt that all of them deserve much better, and I hope that someday they will accept my apologies and find it in their heart to forgive me.”
The government dropped all other remaining charges against Avenatti stemming from a 36-count indictment.
Avenatti is currently serving time in a Southern California prison on two separate cases.
- He was convicted of stealing book proceeds from Stormy Daniels, the porn star who catapulted him to fame as he represented her during her legal battles with then-President Trump, and of trying to extort Nike if the shoemaker didn’t pay him up to $25 million.
- In California, prosecutors said Avenatti collected $4 million from LA County for a man who suffered in-custody injuries and was left paraplegic after a suicide attempt, but denied the settlement was received and paid the man smaller amounts ranging from $1,000 to $1,900 that he called advances on the broader settlement.
- In another case, prosecutors said Avenatti collected a $2.75 million settlement payment for a client and used the money to buy a private airplane.
Prosecutors had asked for Avenatti to be sentenced to an additional 17.5 years in prison on top of the five he is already serving.
Avenatti got sentenced to more prison time.
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) December 5, 2022
You know what that means 🎥:
pic.twitter.com/SVAKzfosUd
(via HuffPost)
