JUST IN: Michael Avenatti Faces Up to 83 Years in Prison After Pleading Guilty to Fraud in California
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Michael Avenatti, the former presidential candidate who represented porn star Stormy Daniels, faces decades in prison after he pleaded guilty to fraud charges.
The disgraced former lawyer admitted Thursday he stole millions of dollars from clients in a California courtroom.
Avenatti pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud and another count of tax evasion. Reuters reported:
Avenatti, 51, admitted to four counts of wire fraud for defrauding clients and one count of obstructing the Internal Revenue Service on a coffee business he once operated.
U.S. District Judge James Selna in Santa Ana, California, accepted the plea, and scheduled Avenatti’s sentencing for Sept. 19.
Avenatti faces up to 83 years in prison, but would likely get far less.
The end of the legal drama in California presumably closes the ongoing drama surrounding Avenatti.
He was sentenced to 48 months in prison earlier this year after he was found guilty of defrauding Daniels out of $300,000. The Justice Department in that case said Avenatti “stole two installments of Daniels’ book advance, totaling $297,500.”
“Lawyers have a duty to be loyal and advocates for their clients,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. “Far from being a loyal advocate for his client, Michael Avenatti stole his client’s identity and her money in order to line his own pockets.”
Avenatti is already serving time in prison after he was found guilty last year of attempting to extort Nike.
In that case, the judge said the former CNN regular “had become drunk on the power of his platform.”
“He had become someone who operated as if the laws and the rules that applied to everyone else didn’t apply to him,” said Judge Paul G. Gardephe.
Avenatti has expressed remorse about his behavior.
“I have destroyed my career, my relationships, and my reputation,” Avenatti said after he was sentenced on June 2. “I’ve brought embarrassment and ridicule upon myself and innocent third parties, including my family, my children, my friends, and the legal profession.”
