The 48-year-old litigator has made headlines largely thanks to his former client, porn star and director Stormy Daniels. Just days before the 2016 US election, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohenarranged a $130,000 payment to Daniels to keep her silent about an affair she says she had with Trump in 2006.
But Trump's lawyers said they wouldn't sue her for breaking it, so Avenatti declared victory in the case. Stormy Daniels attends the 2019 Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada, in January 2019. Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Image Source: Business Insider
Also in December, a federal judge in California ordered Daniels to pay Trump $293,000 in attorney fees and $1,000 in sanctions for filing a defamation lawsuit against the president. Stormy Daniels. Drew Angerer/Getty Images Source: Business Insider
lawyer Michael AvenattiA federal jury in New York has found celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti guilty of defrauding his former client, the adult film star Stormy Daniels. Avenatti, 50, represented Ms Daniels in lawsuits against then-president Donald Trump after she went public with allegations of an affair between them.
Michael John AvenattiMichael John Avenatti (born February 16, 1971) is an American former attorney and convicted felon, best known for his representation of adult film actress Stormy Daniels in her lawsuits against then U.S. president Donald Trump, and for his attempted extortion of sports apparel company Nike that led to his conviction of ...
Avenatti was released from jail in late April 2020 and has been held in home confinement in California ever since, another of his lawyers, Daniel McGuinness, said.
Avenatti has delayed serving a 2 1/2-year prison sentence for his 2020 conviction in an extortion case while waiting for the book proceeds trial and the retrial of a fraud case in a California federal court. Sentencing was set for May 24.
Michael Avenatti, attorney and spokesperson for adult film star Stormy Daniels, listens to a reporters' question during an interview at The Associated Press, Wednesday, March 21, 2018, in New York.
At O'Melveny & Myers, Avenatti worked with Dan Petrocelli, the attorney who represented the family that sued OJ Simpson for murder. Simpson was found not guilty in 1995. OJ Simpson, a former pro football star, was in prison from 2008-2017 for a botched robbery. Ethan Miller/AP.
He also argued that Cohen should have to turn over all conversations with Daniels' former lawyer. Michael Avenatti. AP Photo/Mark Lennihan.
And in May, New York prosecutors further charged him with embezzling $300,000 from Daniels. Avenatti has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and is awaiting trial in both cases. On January 14, federal authorities in California said they had arrested Avenatti for violating the conditions of his pretrial release.
Michael Avenatti, Stormy Daniels' one-time attorney, sentenced for$25M Nike extortion plot. Avenatti represented Stormy Daniels, who claims to have had a tryst with Donald Trump. He was convicted of fraud related to LA youth basketball and a Nike sponsorship. He faces fraud two more trials this year, and another in 2022, on fraud and other charges.
Exit Full Screen. Avenatti represented Stormy Daniels, who claims to have had a tryst with Donald Trump. He was convicted of fraud related to LA youth basketball and a Nike sponsorship. He faces fraud two more trials this year, and another in 2022, on fraud and other charges.
Those political aspirations evaporated when prosecutors in California and New York charged Avenatti with fraud in March 2019. California prosecutors said he was enjoying a $200,000-a-month lifestyle while cheating clients out of millions of dollars and failing to pay hundreds of thousands to the Internal Revenue Service.
The judge wrote that evidence showed that Aven atti "devised an approach to Nike that was designed to enrich himself" rather than address his client's objectives. Nike case: Text messages released in Michael Avenatti case allege conversations about Nike payments.
An employee of Adidas, a Nike competitor, was convicted in that prosecution. The lawyers said Avenatti threatened to do billions of dollars of damage to Nike and then falsely tweeted that criminal conduct at Nike reached the "highest levels.".
Avenatti represented Daniels in 2018 in lawsuits against Trump, appearing often on cable news programs to disparage the Republican president. Avenatti explored running against Trump in 2020, boasting that he would "have no problem raising money.". Daniels said a tryst with Trump a decade earlier resulted in her being paid $130,000 by Trump's ...
Avenatti, the judge added, "had become drunk on the power of his platform, or what he perceived the power of his platform to be. He had become someone who operated as if the laws and the rules that applied to everyone else didn't apply to him.".
Michael Avenatti, attorney and spokesperson for adult film star Stormy Daniels, listens to a reporters' question during an interview at The Associated Press, Wednesday, March 21, 2018, in New York.
At O'Melveny & Myers, Avenatti worked with Dan Petrocelli, the attorney who represented the family that sued OJ Simpson for murder. Simpson was found not guilty in 1995. OJ Simpson, a former pro football star, was in prison from 2008-2017 for a botched robbery. Ethan Miller/AP.
He also argued that Cohen should have to turn over all conversations with Daniels' former lawyer. Michael Avenatti. AP Photo/Mark Lennihan.
And in May, New York prosecutors further charged him with embezzling $300,000 from Daniels. Avenatti has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and is awaiting trial in both cases. On January 14, federal authorities in California said they had arrested Avenatti for violating the conditions of his pretrial release.