by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News September 26, 2022
Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti was ordered on Friday to pay $148,750 in restitution to his best-known client, porn actress Stormy Daniels.
Avenatti, 51, was convicted by a Manhattan federal jury in February of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for embezzling $297,500 in book proceeds from Daniels, who testified that Avenatti “stole from me and lied to me.”
Avenatti appeared on CNN and MSNBC over 100 times in a 10 week span in 2018, becoming a hero in leftist circles following Daniels’ claim of an affair with President Donald Trump. Some pundits on CNN and MSNBC had even suggested Avenatti could be a future presidential candidate.
U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in June sentenced Avenatti to four years in prison, calling his conduct “brazen and egregious.”
Avenatti is appealing the conviction and sentence.
Before the trial, Avenatti had already been serving a 2-1/2 year sentence after being convicted in 2020 of trying to extort millions of dollars from Nike Inc.
Avenatti was also ordered to pay $259,800.50 in restitution to Nike, but the athletic wear company agreed that his individual victims could get paid first.
Parts of the prison sentences run concurrently, and Avenatti is expected to serve a total of five years behind bars.
He also faces a scheduled Nov. 7 sentencing in California after pleading guilty in June to five federal charges there, including four counts of wire fraud for defrauding clients.
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