|
Avenatti, 51, was convicted by a Manhattan federal jury in
February of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for
embezzling $297,500 in book proceeds from Daniels, who testified
that Avenatti "stole from me and lied to me."
U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in June sentenced Avenatti to
four years in prison, calling his conduct "brazen and
egregious."
The sentence also required Avenatti to forfeit the $297,500, but
the restitution is lower because he repaid some of the money to
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. Avenatti is
appealing the conviction and sentence.
Daniels is known for receiving $130,000 from Trump's former
personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen before the 2016
presidential election in exchange for keeping quiet about an
affair she claimed to have had with the future U.S. president,
which he denied.
Avenatti successfully freed Daniels from a non-disclosure
agreement with Trump, paving the way for her 2018 memoir "Full
Disclosure," where she described the alleged liaison.
Lawyers for Avenatti and Daniels did not immediately respond to
requests for comment.
Before the trial, Avenatti had already been serving a 2-1/2 year
sentence after being convicted in 2020 of trying to extort
millions of dollars from Nike Inc.
Avenatti was also ordered to pay $259,800.50 in restitution to
Nike, but the athletic wear company agreed that his individual
victims could get paid first.
Parts of the prison sentences run concurrently, and Avenatti is
expected to serve a total of five years behind bars.
He also faces a scheduled Nov. 7 sentencing in California after
pleading guilty in June to five federal charges there, including
four counts of wire fraud for defrauding clients.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Mark Porter)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
