Avenatti sentenced to 4 years for defrauding Stormy Daniels

Michael Avenatti has been sentenced to four years in prison for cheating client Stormy Daniels of hundreds of thousands of dollars in book proceeds.

The California lawyer is currently incarcerated on a 2 1/2-year sentence for trying to extort Nike. The sentence handed down in Manhattan federal court on Thursday means he will spend an additional 2 1/2 years in prison when stacked upon his Nike conviction.

At trial earlier this year, Avenatti represented himself, cross-examining his former client for hours about their experiences in early 2018, when she signed a book deal that provided an $800,000 payout. Prosecutors said he illegally pocketed about $300,000 of her advance on “Full Disclosure,” published in fall 2018.

Daniels gained fame for her reported relationship with Donald Trump before he was elected president. Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen said he oversaw a $130,000 payment to the adult film actress in the days leading up to the 2016 election.

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