After a two-week trial, a federal jury found Avenatti guilty of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, agreeing with prosecutors that he stole over $300,000 in book proceeds intended for Daniels.
The punishment was handed down in federal court in Manhattan by U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman.
Avenatti, 51, was already serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence for attempting to extort millions of dollars from Nike in 2020.
The Daniels term will run concurrently with the Nike sentence for eighteen months, putting Avenatti in prison for a total of five years.
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Before being sentenced in the Daniels case, Avenatti told Furman, “I have wrecked my career, my relationships, and my reputation.”
Prosecutors had suggested a “substantial” prison sentence for Avenatti, including a mandatory two-year sentence for identity theft.
In the Daniels case, Avenatti, who represented himself, recommended a three-year sentence, with one year serving concurrently with his Nike sentence.
After Furman turned down his plea to wear a suit, he wore beige prison garb and blue sneakers to the sentence.
Due to his appearances on cable television while defending Daniels in lawsuits against Trump, Avenatti became a household figure.
Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was paid $130,000 by Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen in exchange for staying silent before of the 2016 presidential election.
Daniels was released from her nondisclosure deal with Trump thanks to Avenatti.
However, his career came to an end in 2019 when he was charged with stealing millions of dollars from five other clients in New York and California.
Following a mistrial in August, the California case is still proceeding.
Avenatti “betrayed” Daniels by moving money to an account he controlled without alerting her, according to Daniels.
During cross-examination, Avenatti attempted to discredit Stormy Daniels’ credibility by focusing on her paranormal interests. Daniels, who is creating the TV show “Spooky Babes,” claims to be able to communicate with the dead.
