Michael Avenatti, lawyer of Stormy Daniels in Trump hush money case, jailed for 14 years

Michael Avenatti, the disgraced lawyer who represented porn star Stormy Daniels in her battle with Donald Trump, was sentenced to another jail term Monday. Avenatti was handed a 14-year sentence in Californiafor embezzling millions of dollars from four of his clients and for not paying taxes.

He had earlier received a five-year prison term for convictions in New York relating to trying to extort sportswear firm Nike and for stealing from Daniels. This sentence will be in addition to the earlier sentence, US District Judge James Selna ruled.

Avenatti had pleaded guilty earlier this year to four counts of wire fraud for each client he stole from. He was also charged for obstructing the IRS from collecting $5 million in unpaid taxes for Tully’s Coffee.

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Federal prosecutors said Avenatti skimmed settlements he made on his clients' behalf and pilfered $12.35 million.

Prosecutors said in a sentence submission, that Avenatti "would lie about the true terms of the settlement agreement he had negotiated for the client, conceal the settlement payments that the counterparty had made, secretly take and spend the settlement proceeds that belonged to the client, and lull the client into not complaining or investigating further by providing small 'advances' on the supposedly yet-to-be-paid funds."

He was charged for tax cheat on the matter of his firm acquiring Tully's Coffee in bankruptcy, to the tune of $3.2 million. He also avoided paying $1.6 million in payroll taxes from his law firm.

Avenatti became famous in 2018 for representing Daniels against Trump over hush money she received for an alleged affair with him in 2006.

He made so many public appearances that there were rumours he might be considering running for the White House. But while representing Daniels, Avenatti was also defrauding her.

He tricked literary agents into sending $300,000 of an $800,000 advance she received for a book called "Full Disclosure" into a bank account that he controlled.

Avenatti spent it on personal and professional expenses including plane tickets, restaurant meals and the lease of a Ferrari, prosecutors said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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