(USNewsBreak.com) – Michael Avenatti has had a chaotic 18 months. The disbarred attorney, who once represented Stormy Daniels in her case against former President Donald Trump, has just been dealt another blow in a fraud case that has him seeing even more time behind bars.
On Monday, December 5, the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced that US District Judge James Selna sentenced Avenatti to 14 years in prison.
Suspended lawyer Michael John Avenatti has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for defrauding his clients and for obstructing IRS efforts to collect payroll taxes from his coffee business.
— US Attorney L.A. (@USAO_LosAngeles) December 5, 2022
Avenatti was previously sentenced to 30 months in a Nike extortion case and 4 years for stealing $300,000 from Daniels. Selna ordered that the defendant serve the sentences consecutively, which means he’s currently set to stay behind bars for nearly 20 years.
This most recent sentence followed Avenatti’s guilty plea to four charges of wire fraud for embezzling money from his clients and a single charge of obstructing and impeding IRS efforts to collect payroll taxes. Prosecutors in the case say he used his clients to fund his luxurious lifestyle, all the while making them feel as though they were “beholden to him,” according to The New York Times.
Avenatti represented himself in the case and apologized to the clients he defrauded. The Associated Press reported he said he was “deeply remorseful and contrite,” and that the people impacted by his actions deserved “much better.”
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