Former star lawyer Michael Avenatti, who rose to fame representing porn star Stormy Daniels in her legal battles with then-president Donald Trump, on Thursday got 4 years in prison for stealing from her.
Avenatti was convicted in early February of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from Daniels. He reportedly choked up in court during his sentencing.
During a two-week trial, prosecutors said the California lawyer spun a web of lies to cheat Daniels of nearly $300,000 she was owed for her autobiography, spending it on his firm’s payroll and personal expenses. Avenatti argued in closing arguments that he was acting in good faith, believing he was owed the money and never thinking it was wrong to take it.
The Daniels case was separate from a previous trial, where Avenatti was convicted of trying to extort Nike to the tune of $25 million. In July 2021, he was sentenced to two-and-a-half-years in prison in that case.
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Part of Avenatti's sentence in the Daniels case will run concurrently to the sentence in the Nike case, with the remaining 2.5 years to be served after that first sentence is completed.
