Attorney Michael Avenatti was sentenced to four years in prison for defrauding his former client, adult film star Stormy Daniels, out of $300,000.
Avenatti was convicted of aggravated identity fraud and wire fraud in New York federal court earlier this year. 18 months of his sentence will be served concurrently with the 2.5 -year sentence he had already received for trying to extort Nike out of $25 million.
In court, Avenatti said that “no one else had the guts” to help Daniels take on Donald Trump, who he called “the single biggest threat to American democracy.”
“I own the conduct for which I was convicted,” Avenatti continued. “I disappointed scores of people and failed in a cataclysmic way.”
Prosecutors had no sympathy for Avenatti “The defendant committed a serious crime,” the prosecutors wrote. “He stole from a client — someone who put her trust in him and relied on him.”
Is his legal career over?