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A federal jury in Manhattan convicted Avenatti
in February of wire fraud and aggravated identity after a two
week trial, agreeing that he embezzled nearly $300,000 in book
proceeds intended for Daniels.
Prosecutors recommended that Avenatti, 51, receive a prison term
that was "substantial" but shorter than the approximately five
or six years -- including a mandatory two-year term for identity
theft -- recommended under federal guidelines. nL2N2XJ18V]
They said any term should be on top of his 2-1/2-year sentence
from his 2020 conviction for trying to extort millions of
dollars from Nike Inc.
Avenatti, who represented himself, proposed a three-year
sentence in the Daniels case, with one year running concurrent
with his Nike sentence.
U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman is expected to decide
Avenatti's sentence at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT).
Avenatti became a household name thanks to cable television
appearances while representing Daniels in lawsuits against
Trump.
Daniels, whose given name is Stephanie Clifford, received
$130,000 from Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen, in exchange
for remaining quiet before the 2016 presidential election about
sexual encounters she says she had with Trump, which he has
denied.
Avenatti freed Daniels from her nondisclosure agreement with
Trump.
But his career unraveled in 2019 when he was criminally charged
in New York in the Nike case, and in California with stealing
millions of dollars from five other clients. The California case
is ongoing following a mistrial last August.
Daniels testified that Avenatti "betrayed" her by diverting
money to an account he controlled without telling her.
During cross-examination, Avenatti tried to undermine Daniels'
credibility by focusing on her interest in paranormal activity.
Daniels, who is producing the TV project "Spooky Babes," said
she could speak with the dead.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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