Michael Avenatti, the convicted ex-attorney who gained fame for his fiery cable-news denunciations of President Donald Trump, was re-sentenced on Thursday, June 12, to 11 years and three months in prison — a slightly shorter sentenced than the 14 years he was previously ordered to spend behind bars for stealing millions from his former clients.
Avenatti, during a hearing at the federal courthouse in downtown Santa Ana, was given credit for the three years, four months he has already served in prison, and will now have to serve just under eight more years in federal lockup.
In late 2022, U.S. District Judge James V. Selna sentenced Avenatti to the 14 years in prison for his Orange County case, which came on top of a combined five-year sentence Avenatti received in New York for attempting to extort about $25 million from Nike and stealing nearly $300,000 from adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, who he represented in a legal dispute with President Trump.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year overturned the 14-year sentence, finding that Judge Selna had erred by not taking several sentencing factors into account.
The appellate judges sent it back to Judge Selna, setting up Thursday’s re-sentencing.
Avenatti, in a letter sent to Judge Selna on the eve of his re-sentencing, asked for mercy, writing that while in prison he has focused on “being accountable, exercising humility, and becoming a better father, a better man and a better human being” and adding that his happiest moments behind bars have been while “helping others succeed. …
“In a strange way, and after having years to reflect on my life and conduct, I feel that perhaps I needed to be sent to prison and experience my downfall to be reminded of the things that really matter in life,” Avenatti wrote. “And that money isn’t one of them.”
Avenatti also acknowledged, regarding his former clients, that “I violated the law and equally … their trust. …
“There is no question what I did was wrong,” Avenatti wrote. “And there is also no question that I have rightly paid, and will continue to pay, a heavy price for my conduct.”
Attorneys representing Avenatti urged the judge to hand down a shorter sentence, arguing it would send a message that the conduct of inmates behind bars matters.
“Nothing Mr. Avenatti does can take away the pain his victims felt,” Deputy Federal Public Defender Adithya Mani told the judge. “All he can do is treat the next person better than he treated them.”
Federal prosecutors told Judge Selna that Avenatti hasn’t changed since his conviction, arguing that while he has claimed remorse he has never explained why he took advantage of his clients.
“He is the same unrepentant person who will say or do anything — true or not — if it benefits him,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Sagel said. “It is always, ‘How can I lie, how can I conceal, how can I kick the can down the road so no one looks behind the curtain.’ “
Alexis Gardner told the judge that Avenatti is a “legal predator.”
Avenatti hid the terms of a $2.75 million settlement with her ex-boyfriend, spending the money on a private plane while she was living out of her car.
“Michael utilizes paperwork and the system to give him ammunition,” she said. “I’m still rebuilding my life, and I’m still playing catchup.”
Federal prosecutors previously described Avenatti as running what was essentially a sophisticated Ponzi scheme to fund his lavish lifestyle.
He stole money from his clients, lied to put them off, prosecutors said, and at the same time cheated the government out of millions in taxes. It was that refusal to pay taxes, prosecutors added, that ultimately led investigators to discover the fraud.
Avenatti came to public prominence during the first Trump administration with his involvement in the Stormy Daniels lawsuit. At one time, Avenatti was mulling his own potential presidential prospects, before the web of criminal allegations consumed his career.