Michael Avenatti to face sentencing for stealing from Stormy Daniels

Disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti will be sentenced Thursday for stealing nearly $300,000 in book advance money from porn star Stormy Daniels. 

Avenatti, who is already serving time on a separate extortion rap, faces a minimum sentence of two years in prison and a maximum of more than 20 years behind bars. 

In a letter to Manhattan federal court Judge Jesse Furman, prosecutors sided with a recommendation from the probation department in requesting Avenatti be sentenced to a total of four years in prison, two years of which could be served concurrent to time in the extortion case. 

Avenatti has requested three years and one day in prison, with one year and a day served concurrent to his sentence in the separate case. 

The fallen lawyer, who rose to fame during Donald Trump’s presidency by representing Daniels, was convicted in February of stealing two book advance payments from the porn star in 2018 totaling nearly $300,000. 

Michael Avenatti Stormy Daniels
Avenatti represented Daniels as her attorney during the Trump administration.
AFP via Getty Images

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, inked a book deal that year after it was revealed she was paid $130,000 in the lead up to the 2016 election to not speak about an alleged affair she had with Trump years earlier. 

Daniels was the star witness at Avenatti’s Manhattan trial and blasted him as a thief from the witness stand under questioning by prosecutors. 

“He stole from me and lied to me,” she told jurors. 

Michael Avenatti Stormy Daniels cover
Avenatti was convicted of stealing from Daniels last February.

Avenatti, who represented himself at trial, highlighted statements she made about him during their fraught business relationship in an attempt to undermine her credibility. 

“On Sept. 27, 2019 … You stated that I was ‘f—ing myself pretty nice and hard and that when I go to prison, there will be a long line of people to ass-rape me,’ ” he asked Daniels in court, who did not deny making the statement. 

In the separate extortion case, Avenatti was sentenced in July 2021 for attempting to shakedown sportswear giant Nike out of millions of dollars. 

Stormy Daniels
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, testified that Avenatti lied to and stole from her.
Getty Images
Michael Avenatti
Avenatti is facing a minimum of two years in prison.
Corbis via Getty Images

At his sentencing in that case, Avenatti lamented the disaster his life had become since he rose to fame during Trump’s presidency. 

“I and I alone have destroyed my career, my relationships and my life,” he said.  

Avenatti has said he intends to appeal his conviction in the Daniels case.

source: nypost.com