The incarcerated lawyer Michael Avenatti was sentenced in southern California on Monday to 14 years in jail and ordered to pay $7m in restitution after admitting he cheated 4 of his clients out of millions of {dollars}.
The sentence ought to run consecutively to the five-year jail time period he’s already serving for separate convictions in New York, the US district choose James V Selna mentioned throughout a listening to in Santa Ana, California.
Avenatti pleaded responsible this yr to 4 counts of wire fraud and a tax-related cost with out reaching a plea cope with federal prosecutors, saying he needed to be accountable and spare his household additional embarrassment. He was accused of negotiating and amassing settlement funds on behalf of his clients and funneling the cash to accounts he managed.
Before sentencing, Avenatti apologized to the 4 victims within the case, three of whom have been within the courtroom.
“I am deeply remorseful and contrite,” Avenatti mentioned. “There is no doubt that all of them deserve much better, and I hope that someday they will accept my apologies and find it in their heart to forgive me.”
The prosecutor Brett Sagel informed the court docket that Avenatti’s felony conduct “arose from calculated choices and egregious violations of the trust” his clients positioned in him.
(*14*) Sagel mentioned. “Despite the significant advantages that this defendant had – a first-rate education, a thriving legal career – he chose to commit the deplorable acts in this case time and time again.”
The authorities dropped all different remaining fees in opposition to Avenatti stemming from a 36-count indictment.
Avenatti is serving time in a southern California jail on two separate instances. He was convicted of stealing book proceeds from Stormy Daniels, the porn actor who catapulted him to fame as he represented her throughout her authorized battles with Donald Trump, and of making an attempt to extort Nike if the shoemaker didn’t pay him up to $25m.
Avenatti represented Daniels in her lawsuit to break a confidentiality settlement with Trump to keep mum about an affair she mentioned that they had and he turned one of Trump’s main adversaries, attacking him on cable information packages and Twitter.
In California, prosecutors mentioned Avenatti had collected $4m from Los Angeles county for a person who suffered in-custody accidents and was left paraplegic after a suicide try, however he had denied the settlement was acquired and had paid the person smaller quantities starting from $1,000 to $1,900 that he referred to as advances on the broader settlement. In one occasion, prosecutors mentioned, Avenatti collected a $2.75m settlement fee for a consumer and used a lot of the cash to purchase a personal airplane.
In one other, he collected a $4m settlement from Los Angeles county for a person who suffered in-custody accidents and was left paraplegic after a suicide try, however by no means informed him the cash was acquired. Instead, authorities mentioned Avenatti used the funds to finance his espresso enterprise and pay private bills and gave the person smaller quantities starting from $1,000 to $1,900 that he referred to as advances on the broader settlement.
The man, Geoffrey Johnson, informed the court docket the deception was about greater than cash.
“I am not sure I ever can trust anyone else again,” Johnson mentioned. “I continue to have nightmares that people are out to get me. My view of humanity has certainly changed, and not for the better.”
Prosecutors had requested for Avenatti to be sentenced to an extra 17.5 years in jail on high of the 5 he’s already serving.
Avenatti, who represented himself within the proceedings, requested that he be given a sentence of not more than six years that might run concurrently to the time he’s serving.
He requested the court docket to think about the nice he did as a lawyer earlier than and other than his crimes. He referenced serving to reunite immigrant kids separated from their dad and mom by the Trump administration and representing a rape sufferer whereas out on bail on this case. He mentioned a prolonged sentence at his age wouldn’t give him a significant probability to do proper by his victims or to be a father to his kids.
Selna famous Avenatti had carried out a lot good in his life, however mentioned that wasn’t all.
“He has also done great evil, for which he much answer,” the choose mentioned earlier than sentencing him. “It is now time to pay his debts to the victims, the government and society.”
