Former celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti who had been accused of stealing millions of dollars from his clients, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. 

A judge in federal court in Santa Ana, California, handed down the sentence saying that Avenatti also needs to pay nearly $11 million.

The sentencing comes after Avenatti pleaded guilty earlier this year to four counts of wire fraud for each client he stole from and one count of endeavoring to obstruct the administration of the Internal Revenue Code.

According to prosecutors, Avenatti obstructed the IRS’ effort to collect $5 million in unpaid payroll taxes for Tully’s Coffee.

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“Michael Avenatti was a corrupt lawyer who claimed he was fighting for the little guy. In fact, he only cared about his own selfish interests,” US Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement following the sentencing. “He stole millions of dollars from his clients – all to finance his extravagant lifestyle that included a private jet and race cars. As a result of his illegal acts, he has lost his right to practice law in California, and now he will serve a richly deserved prison sentence.”

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Dean Steward, an attorney for Avenatti, said in a statement to CNN that the sentence “was overly harsh and uncalled for,” adding that his client described it in court as being “off the charts.”

Who is Michael Avenatti?

Michael Avenatti was born on February 16, 1971 in Sacramento, California. He spent his early childhood in Colorado and Utah. He later moved to Chesterfield, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, in 1982.

Avenatti attended Parkway Central High School. After graduating in 1989, he attended Saint Louis University for one year before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in political science in 1996.

After college, Avenatti attended the George Washington University Law School. Avenatti graduated in 2000 ranked first in his class.

In 2003, the George Washington Law School established the Michael J. Avenatti Award for Excellence in Pre-Trial and Trial Advocacy after Avenatti made several five-figure donations to the school. He was awarded GW’s Alumni Recognition Award, in 2010.

He is best known for representing Stormy Daniels in her lawsuits against then-US president Donald Trump, and for his attempted extortion of sports apparel company Nike.

He is also known to have filed suits against Fortune 500 companies.

Avenatti is currently serving a prison sentence that was given after he was convicted for attempting to extort millions of dollars from Nike and stealing nearly $300,000 from a book advance from Daniels. On June 2, 2022, he was sentenced to four years in prison for defrauding Daniels.

He was married to Christine Carlin for 13 years and had two daughters with her. He then married Lisa Storie in 2011 with whom he has one son. Lisa Storie filed for divorce in December 2017.