Disgraced lawyer Michael Avenatti, who was once touted by the US media as a possible presidential candidate against Donald Trump, has been sentenced to four years in prison for defrauding porn actress Stormy Daniels. The sentence was handed down in a Manhattan federal court on Thursday by US District Judge Jesse Furman, who called the attorney’s behavior “brazen and egregious.”
Avenatti was convicted in February of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft stemming from his embezzlement of nearly $300,000 in book profits due to the porn actress and former Trump paramour. The lawyer had diverted the money to an account he controlled while insisting the publisher had yet to turn over the $297,000 advance payments she was owed.