Who is Michael Avenatti? Former attorney sentenced to prison for defrauding Stormy Daniels

Disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti faces charges of cheating several clients, including Stormy Daniels (Image via Eduardo Munoz, Getty)

On Thursday, former attorney Michael Avenatti was sentenced to four years for stealing from his client, actor and filmmaker Stormy Daniels.

Prosecutors claimed that Michael Avenatti was responsible for cheating Daniels out of a $300,000 advance for her 2018 memoir, Full Disclosure.

According to various reports, Avenatti rose to national recognition after representing Stormy Daniels in a lawsuit intended to free her from a $130,000 payment she allegedly received from representatives of President Donald Trump, who reportedly wanted her to suppress the details of a relationship she had with the business tycoon turned politician.

Michael Avenatti has been convicted of aggravated identity theft, which requires a mandatory 2-year sentence. He is currently serving a 2-and-a-half-year sentence for his attempt to extort Nike Inc. He will also face a retrial in California related to accusations that he dishonestly procured millions of dollars from numerous people, including other former clients.

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All there is to know about Michael Avenatti

Before it was revealed that he had cheated several people, Michael Avenatti was an outspoken celebrity lawyer, media figure, and professional racecar driver from Sacramento, California.

According to his speaker profile at Politicon, he had a major presence in the broadcast and print media as an expert commentator on legal issues. He has also represented multiple high-profile clients, particularly garnering significant attention for his cases against the National Football League (NFL) and Donald Trump.

Despite numerous complaints against him in the past, including domestic violence and misconduct allegations, Avenatti rose to such prominence that in 2018 he expressed interest in running for President in the 2020 elections.

However, Avenatti fell from grace in 2019 when a litany of charges were filed against him, including wire fraud, embezzlement, and extortion.

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What happened with Stormy Daniels?

According to CBS, on May 22, 2019, Michael Avenatti was first charged with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for supposedly stealing $300,000 from Stormy Daniels. According to Federal Judge Jesse Furman, Michael Avenatti was compelled to do so as his law firm was struggling, and the theft was an attempt to sustain it.

Daniels had entrusted Michael Avenatti with negotiating her book deal, but the former attorney pocketed the advance intended for her.

According to reports, Michael Avenatti represented himself at the trial. Prosecutors noted the aggressive manner in which the disgraced attorney dealt with his former client in court.

Prosecutors said:

“(Avenatti) berated his victim for lewd language and being a difficult client, questioned her invasively about marital and familial difficulties and sought to cast her as crazy, much as he did during the course of his fraud to prevent her own agent and publisher from responding to her pleas of help.”

Despite this, according to the New York Post, Avenatti was not successful, as a federal judge sentenced him to 4 years in prison for stealing the advancement from Daniels. Avenatti will serve a part of his sentence concurrently to the time he’s already doing for the Nike extortion case. However, he was ordered to serve an additional 30 months following that.

Upon hearing the verdict, Avenatti said:

“I’ve brought embarrassment and ridicule upon myself and innocent third parties, including my family, my children, my friends and the legal profession.”

He continued:

“I have destroyed my career, my relationships and my reputation and done collateral damage to my family and my life. There is serious doubt as to how or if I will recover any semblance of a normal life or peace.”

Prosecutors, however, were skeptical about Avenatti’s apology.

Prosecutors observed:

“The defendant certain had every right to defend himself at trial. But he is not entitled to a benefit for showing remorse, having done so only when convenient and only after seeking to humiliate his victim at a public trial, and denigrating and insulting her for months to her agent and publisher while holding himself out as taking up her cause against the powerful who might have taken advantage of her.”

Earlier, Daniels testified that the 51-year-old California lawyer had "betrayed" her.