Michael Avenatti guilty of stealing $300k from Stormy Daniels, porn star he represented against Donald Trump
Disgraced lawyer Michael Avenatti has been convicted of stealing nearly $300,000 from porn star Stormy Daniels, whom he represented in her lawsuit against former President Donald Trump.
A jury on Friday afternoon found Avenatti guilty on counts of wire fraud and identity theft. Avenatti faces up to 22 years in prison.
Prosecutors over the course of the two-week trial said that Avenatti ripped Daniels off of hundreds of thousands of dollars for her autobiography, and that he used it on his personal expenses and his law firm’s payroll.
‘The defendant was a lawyer who stole from his own client. She thought he was her advocate, but he betrayed her,’ assistant US attorney Robert Sobelman said. ‘He told lies to cover it all up, lies he told to try to get away with it.’
Representing himself, Avenatti, claimed that he was owed the funds and did not think he was doing anything wrong by taking it.
Avenatti helped Daniels secure a book deal in spring 2018. Not long after, Avenatti began representing Daniels in litigation to free her from a $130,000 payment she took from Trump’s personal lawyer in exchange for her silence on her alleged affair with the then- future president.
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