Lawyer Michael Avenatti was ordered to pay his former client, adult film star Stormy Daniels, $148,740 in restitution.
The restitution is intended to cover outstanding funds owed to Daniels following his conviction in February for swindling roughly $300,000 away from her during a book deal she had for Full Disclosure. Prosecutors alleged he forged her signature to embezzle the funds.
MICHAEL AVENATTI PLEADS GUILTY TO FRAUD AND OBSTRUCTION CHARGES
Avenatti previously compensated Daniels for some of the $300,000 he allegedly embezzled from her, and the $148,740 restitution figure is intended to cover the remaining amount.
Daniels’s onetime lawyer is currently behind bars serving out a prison sentence for multiple crimes. This includes a four-year sentence for the wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges pertaining to the embezzlement Daniels was convicted of in February. It also includes a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for attempting to blackmail between $15 and $25 million from Nike, according to court documents.
Avenatti, a public nemesis of former President Donald Trump, is currently appealing the sentencing and conviction against him, Reuters reported.
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Daniels has claimed that Avenatti filed a defamation suit against Trump in 2018 “without my permission and against my wishes.” The suit failed, and she was left to pay $300,000 in legal fees to Trump.
The legal tiff with Trump stemmed from reports that Daniels received $130,000 from a Trump lawyer to stay mum about an alleged affair Trump had with her. Avenatti filed a suit in 2018 against Trump for defamation after the former president denied the alleged affair.
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Avenatti is expected to serve a total of five years in jail for the current spate of convictions against him due to the concurrent nature of his two sentences.
He will also face sentencing on Nov. 7 for a separate case against him, in which he pleaded guilty in June to defrauding clients and engaging in wire fraud.
