U.S. lawyer Michael Avenatti gets 4 years in prison for defrauding Stormy Daniels

NEW YORK, June 2 (Reuters) – Michael Avenatti, the brash California lawyer who took on then-President Donald Trump, was sentenced on Thursday to four several years in jail for defrauding his best-known former consumer, the porn actress Stormy Daniels.

A federal jury convicted Avenatti in February of wire fraud and aggravated id theft just after a two-7 days trial, agreeing with prosecutors that he embezzled nearly $300,000 in reserve proceeds supposed for Daniels. read far more

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman imposed the sentence in federal court docket in Manhattan, calling Avenatti’s perform “brazen and egregious.”

But he mentioned tips calling for Avenatti, 51, to serve a sentence of five or 6 yrs had been “unreasonable,” in aspect due to Avenatti’s prior profitable legal occupation.

Avenatti, who appeared in court carrying jail garb and ankle shackles, recounted a string of authorized victories he had secured for shoppers he identified as “underdogs,” and disputed prosecutors’ assertion that he took on Daniels as a customer to achieve a nationwide system for himself.

“No a single else had the guts to choose her situation,” Avenatti mentioned just before Furman handed down his sentence, talking from the courtroom lectern with a U.S. marshal standing beside him. “I thought we could choose down a sitting down U.S. president who was the biggest risk to our democracy in modern moments.”

Daniels, whose presented title is Stephanie Clifford, is known for getting $130,000 from Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, in exchange for remaining peaceful just before the 2016 presidential election about sexual encounters she states she experienced with Trump, which he has denied.

Avenatti vowed to enchantment the responsible verdict in the Daniels situation, but has not but accomplished so.

He experienced previously been serving a 2-1/2-12 months sentence stemming from his 2020 federal conviction for making an attempt to extort thousands and thousands of bucks from Nike Inc (NKE.N). He has appealed that conviction.

Eighteen months of the Daniels sentence will run concurrent with the Nike sentence, meaning Avenatti faces a combined five years in jail. He is however charged in California with thieving thousands and thousands of pounds from other purchasers.

Prosecutors experienced advised that Avenatti acquire a “substantial” jail phrase in the Daniels circumstance, such as a mandatory two-calendar year term for identification theft. nL2N2XJ18V]

Avenatti, who represented himself throughout the demo, proposed a three-12 months sentence, with just one year jogging concurrent with his Nike sentence.

Next the sentencing, Avenatti blew a kiss toward mates of his in the viewers prior to remaining led out of the courtroom by U.S. marshals. He will return to jail in California to get ready for demo there.

Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York modifying by Jonathan Oatis and Noeleen Walder

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