Michael Avenatti sentenced to 14 years in prison for stealing millions of dollars from clients

[BumRushDaShow]

Last edited Mon Dec 5, 2022, 07:30 PM - Edit history (2)

Source: CNN Politics

CNN — Disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti was sentenced Monday to 14 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $11 million in restitution for embezzling millions of dollars from four of his clients and obstruction. Avenatti pleaded guilty earlier this year to four counts of wire fraud for each client he stole from and one count of endeavoring to obstruct the administration of the Internal Revenue Code. Prosecutors said he obstructed the IRS’ effort to collect $5 million in unpaid payroll taxes for Tully’s Coffee.

The sentence handed down by federal district Judge James Selna will begin after Avenatti completes a five-year prison term he’s currently serving after being convicted in two separate trials in New York. Selna also ordered Avenatti to pay over $10 million in restitution to four clients and to the IRS. “Michael Avenatti was a corrupt lawyer who claimed he was fighting for the little guy. In fact, he only cared about his own selfish interests,” US Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement following the sentencing.

“He stole millions of dollars from his clients – all to finance his extravagant lifestyle that included a private jet and race cars. As a result of his illegal acts, he has lost his right to practice law in California, and now he will serve a richly deserved prison sentence.” Dean Steward, an attorney for Avenatti, said in a statement to CNN that the sentence “was overly harsh and uncalled for,” adding that his client described it in court as being “off the charts.” “When compared with similar high-profile cases, the unfairness is glaring,” Steward said.

Monday’s sentence represents the latest episode in an extraordinary years-long legal drama surrounding Avenatti, whose representation of Stormy Daniels, the adult film star who alleged she had an affair with former President Donald Trump years before he ran for office, made the pugnacious attorney a household name.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/05/politics/michael-avenatti-prison-sentence-client-embezzlement/index.html

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Article updated.

Previous article -

CNN -- Disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti was sentenced Monday to 14 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $11 million in restitution for embezzling millions of dollars from four of his clients and obstruction. Avenatti pleaded guilty earlier this year to four counts of wire fraud for each client he stole from and one count of endeavoring to obstruct the administration of the Internal Revenue Code. Prosecutors said he obstructed the IRS' effort to collect $5 million in unpaid payroll taxes for Tully's Coffee.

The sentence handed down by federal district Judge James Selna will begin after Avenatti completes a five-year prison term he's currently serving after being convicted in two separate trials in New York. Selna also ordered Avenatti to pay over $10 million in restitution to four clients and to the IRS.

"Michael Avenatti was a corrupt lawyer who claimed he was fighting for the little guy. In fact, he only cared about his own selfish interests," US Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement following the sentencing. "He stole millions of dollars from his clients - all to finance his extravagant lifestyle that included a private jet and race cars. As a result of his illegal acts, he has lost his right to practice law in California, and now he will serve a richly deserved prison sentence."

CNN has reached out to an attorney for Avenatti for comment. Monday's sentence represents the latest episode in an extraordinary years-long legal drama surrounding Avenatti, whose representation of Stormy Daniels, the adult film star who alleged she had an affair with former President Donald Trump years before he ran for office, made the pugnacious attorney a household name.

Original article -

CNN -- Disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti was sentenced Monday to 14 years in prison for embezzling millions of dollars from four of his clients and obstruction.

Avenatti pleaded guilty earlier this year to four counts of wire fraud for each client he stole from and one count of endeavoring to obstruct the administration of the Internal Revenue Code. Prosecutors said he obstructed the IRS' effort to collect $5 million in unpaid payroll taxes for Tully's Coffee.

The sentence handed down Monday by federal district Judge James Selna will begin after Avenatti completes a five-year prison term he's currently serving after being convicted in two separate trials in New York.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Good

I never trusted this guy.

[mitch96]

23. Holy Moly that was quite a fall from grace............splat..nt

[MichMan]

2. He sure had a lot of fans here at one time

Some even thought he was presidential material.

[Sneederbunk]

7. Yes, it was an enemy of my enemy is my friend time.

Last edited Mon Dec 5, 2022, 09:41 PM - Edit history (1)

[Botany]

9. I'm guilty of supporting him

But I also gave money to John Edwards too.

[LisaM]

25. I still support John Edwards' MESSAGE.

I don't know that Avenatti had a message per se.

[spooky3]

30. Me too, though I wonder if it was really crafted by Elizabeth.

I recall Avenatti’s message in this way: you can’t take the high road against Trump and succeed. You have to be a street fighter.

I think that appealed until we realized he was a fraud.

[LisaM]

46. I don't know. He (Edwards) spoke of his father's experience.

I think he worked at a furniture factory that got shut down.

I really liked his message, but it was a good lesson in not getting so attached to one candidate that you would then throw the party under the bus if that candidate lost or worse, saying things like you had to "hold your nose" to vote for the eventual nominee. First and foremost, I am a Democrat.

It was fun to listen to Avenatti's sound bites, but I prefer candidates for high office who have political experience.

[BigmanPigman]

33. I remember in 2018 he and Scaramucci were pitching a TV show

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/17/business/media/michael-avenatti-anthony-scaramucci-television-show.html

"Show Starring Avenatti and Scaramucci Is Being Pitched to Television Executives"

"On the show, Michael Avenatti, left, the lawyer for the pornographic film actress suing the president, would square off with Anthony Scaramucci, the former White House communications director."

That is where I drew the line in supporting him.

[onetexan]

38. I confess to have been a fan but at the time didn't know Avenatti was dirty

Very disappointed he turned out to be a dud.

[CarlYasutomo]

43. The moment he said he might run for president was the moment I stopped liking him. N/t

[Faux pas]

3. Whoa!

Look how far he fell. I used to think he was one of the good guys. Everybody got conned.

[Beakybird]

6. I didn't. I could tell he was a thin-skinned narcissist.

Of course, it's nicer when an asshole is playing for your side.

[Harker]

12. Same as in ice hockey. n/t

[Ms. Toad]

34. No. "Everybody" didn't get conned.

I never thought he was one of the good guys, and said so at the time. There were others also sounding the alarm when people here started suggesting him for president.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

36. I recall that nadir! It was fuelled by Twitter craptalk. Now what should Kraken lawyers deserve?

[MarineCombatEngineer]

47. Not everybody,

I certainly didn't think he was a good guy right from the get go, I just wasn't as vocal as others here on how much of a dirtbag he is.

There are several others here who cautioned on his "honesty".

How the mighty have fallen.

[IronLionZion]

4. He encouraged guys to go with a short buzz cut

or maybe just me

[iluvtennis]

5. I actually liked him very much when he first surfaced during the Stormy Daniels flap. Was very hurt

when it came out that he was a crook. He did the crime, so he has to pay the time.

[mwb970]

10. I'm with you.

I used to enjoy watching the news clips he was on. I thought he was really going places. Guess I should have thought about where he was going.

[moonscape]

15. Yes, when he first surfaced he was

fearless and confident in going after tfg. That hooked me until his ego got out of control. He lost me when he started having grandiose political ambitions.

[awesomerwb1]

8. Funny story

Remember when a lot of people on here and on twitter wanted him to run for president? Good times.

[emulatorloo]

11. I do! One of the craziest DU trends. And that includes when DU'ers were breathlessly promoting

Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing as ‘Truth Tellers’ rather than the GOP hacks they have always been.

[Beautiful Disaster]

28. Avenatti and Trump similar in one sense: they're perceived as fighters.

For a lot of people, it's much easier to ignore someone's faults when you sense they're fighting for you. Trump, as awful as he was, was good at cultivating an image of a fighter and because of that, he was able to turn people against his opponents - he created an enemy that HE was fighting against on THEIR behalf. Very similar to Hitler. It's why, even today, Trump still has 30% of the country in the palm of his hand and why his election denialism isn't a dealbreaker because they see it as a war.

Avenatti, in some respects, had a similar approach - fight, fight and fight some more. He did seem like he wasn't afraid to go after Trump and stand up to him and get down and dirty. That was appealing to a lot of liberals who were tired of politicians taking the high road.

There was an appeal there. A very similar appeal that Trump drew from on his side.

[spooky3]

32. Well-said nt

[Ms. Toad]

35. Completely agree -

And disappointed at the time that many on DU were falling for it.

[bucolic_frolic]

13. Courts frown very hard on white collar financial crimes

This isn't a lot different from Enron, Worldcom, the first KMart, Madoff-with-the-money. So not unexpected.

[Meadowoak]

29. yeah, they usually get a harsh frown, and 9 days in a country club jail, with room service.

[Hekate]

39. Didn't Madoff die in prison? Hm?

[Bucky]

40. Allergic reaction to the champaign they were serving in the fine arts building on polka night

A fitting end for his ilk

[Hekate]

41. Not funny, but you do you

[harumph]

31. Apparently courts "frown very hard" on some - while ignoring others.

Madoff grievous sin was the mistake of stealing from other rich people. Jeffrey Skilling of Enron got 24 years but served 12.
Avenatti appears to have alienated a lot of people. There are lots of white collar criminals who don't get punished at all.
Attorney General of Texas Ken Paxton was indicted 7 years ago (for financial crimes) - but he's still in office. It's either who you know or who you've pissed off. Justice in the US is a bad joke.

https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2022-05-23/seven-years-later-still-no-trial-for-texas-ag-ken-paxton

[FakeNoose]

14. If Avenatti gets 14 years in prison, what will Chump get?

At least TWICE that much, am I right?

[LiberalLovinLug]

16. I get he had to be punished but 19 years?

I too was so disappointed in him. Like TLP, he was an outsider, who was more effective than Democrats themselves at messaging and laying the truth out there about Donald Trump. He was saying things we were just beyond frustrated that our Dem reps were not.

Murderers don't get that harsh a sentence. I just think the punishment was that harsh because he made no friends in either party. So whether a judge or jury was leaning D or R, he was fucked.

[MichMan]

21. Well he represented clients who won big judgments in court, but he kept the money for himself.

At least one was disabled

[edbermac]

17. I was rooting for him to take down Trump Jr.

No justice when he goes to prison before the Trumps.

[Sogo]

18. Very disappointed in Avenatti, that he turned out to be

another scam artist.

But I still wonder what was on the CD he displayed as evidence against Trump.

[harumph]

19. If we only look at this in isolation, it may seem the punishment is just.

However, look at what rapists and murderers get (or don't get) per our "justice" system.
The 14 years starts AFTER the 5 years he's now serving. Seems excessive to me.
Look at the folks who have spent years in prison for a pot conviction.
We can't even seem to convict a former president who stole secret documents - whereas, if
it were any other person, they'd be cooling their heels in Leavenworth before the ink dried on their
arrest warrant. Accordingly, I take no pleasure from this. Stealing is bad - yes - but what's worse - stealing millions
or attempting to overthrow the government? Roger Stone, John Eastman, and Giuliani among
others are still free men. How about every police officer who abuses citizens under color of law?



For comparison - Jeffrey Skilling of Enron (remember them) fame was released after serving 12 years.

[BumRushDaShow]

24. "We can't even seem to convict a former president who stole secret documents"

Avenati was originally indicted in 2019 and eventually plead guilty 3 years later to get to this point now -

Justice Department to drop 31 remaining fraud charges against Michael Avenatti following guilty plea


By Kara Scannell
Published 3:06 PM EDT, Tue June 21, 2022

(snip)

The decision brings Avenatti one step closer to resolving his legal troubles that started in 2019, when he was hit with three federal indictments in a six-week period. The federal charges upended Avenatti’s ascent as the pugnacious attorney who represented Stormy Daniels as she went public about a hush-money scheme to silence her alleged affair with Donald Trump. (Trump has denied the affair.)

(snip)

https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/21/politics/avenatti-fraud-charges-dropped/index.html

Meanwhile the 45 documents issue was not even confirmed (at least by NARA) until 2021 (not long after their expressing concern to 45's lawyers about returning stuff just before the transition and continuing to do so for over a year after the inauguration) and from that point forward, this case has been jammed up in the courts, with the latest action last Thursday that finally saw a panel of judges from the 11th Circuit ditch the "Special Master" (although that decision was expected to most likely be appealed regardless of whether it makes sense or not ).

[MichMan]

51. Avenatti was found guilty in multiple cases brought in different courts

[KG]

20. ' Disgraced' ? how about 'convicted' . hate the soft-peddleing.

[liberalla]

26. W.O.W. !!! That is a pretty lengthy sentence! On top of the five years he's currently doing...

He sure was enjoying the limelight and high life! Only to crash and burn...

[Pepsidog]

27. At first I liked his moxie but it got old fast.

[hamsterjill]

37. I liked his bravado.

I’m sure he is all that he’s accused of and more. But he’s in jail and Trump is still walking around free and somewhere in my mind, that just doesn’t seem right.

[MichMan]

42. His clients won big settlements and he pocketed the money for himself

In California, prosecutors said Avenatti collected $4 million from Los Angeles County for a man who suffered in-custody injuries and was left paraplegic after a suicide attempt, but denied the settlement was received and paid the man smaller amounts ranging from $1,000 to $1,900 that he called advances on the broader settlement. In another instance, prosecutors said Avenatti collected a $2.75 million settlement payment for a client and used much of the money to buy a private airplane.

[at140]

48. Sounds like a crook to me.

[SunSeeker]

44. I don't think it helped him that he represented himself. nt

[Skittles]

45. haha

there were actually DUers who admired this conman and his gold-digging client

[leftyladyfrommo]

49. That whole thing was the wierdest deal.

He seemed so likable at first.

[milestogo]

50. I bet he will be popular in prison, where everyone wants legal assistance.