On Thursday, the disgraced celebrity lawyer and fierce Donald Trump critic, Michael Avenatti, was sentenced to four years in prison for defrauding his most prominent client, Stormy Daniels.
Back in February, 51-year-old liberal activist Avenatti was convicted by a federal jury of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Jurors agreed with prosecutors that Avenatti embezzled nearly $300,000 in book profits intended for adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
The disgraced lawyer had been already serving a 2 1/2-year sentence from a 2020 conviction for trying to extort millions of dollars from Nike Inc. Eighteen months of the new sentence will run concurrent with the current sentence, according to Reuters.
100 Percent Fedup reported:
Daniels sued President Trump after claiming that a non-disclosure agreement preventing her from discussing their alleged affair was invalid. She won that lawsuit, then attempted to sue President Trump for defamation and lost, and was forced to pay $300,000 in legal fees and court sanctions.
Avenatti was convicted of one count of identity theft and one count of wire fraud.
According to CNN, Avenatti was also ordered to pay $148,750 to Daniels and $297,900 to the United States.
U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman, who imposed the sentence in federal court on June 2 in Manhattan told Avenatti: “I hope you put your formidable talents to better use.”
More details of this report from The Gateway Pundit:
“Liberal media darling Michael Avenatti was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge Jesse Furman for embezzling nearly $300,000 from his Anti-Trump former client Stephanie Clifford–better known by her stripper name Stormy Daniels. Avenatti told the judge in court in the Southern District of New York as he pleaded for a lenient sentence that he took Daniels’ case against Trump because, “I believed we could take down a sitting American president who was the biggest threat to our democracy in modern times.”
Avenatti was convicted in February of charges stemming from him forging Daniels’ signature on a letter to divert nearly $300,000 in her book royalties to himself.”
Avenatti pleaded for a light sentence to the court by saying that he would forever be branded as a ‘disgraced lawyer’ because of his criminal acts.
“I deserve just punishment. I stand by the sinceity 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.” He said.
The outlet noted:
Today, he was sentenced to four years in prison. He is currently serving a 30-month sentence for attempting to extort $20 million from Nike. He goes on trial again next month after being accused of embezzling $10 million from five clients, including a paraplegic.
Sources: 100percentfedup, The Gateway Pundit, CNN