Disbarred attorney Michael Avenatti, who gained fame representing adult-film actress Stormy Daniels in her litigation against President Donald Trump, was re-sentenced Thursday to 11 years and three months in prison — down from his original sentence of 14 years for his admission to tax and wire fraud.
With credit for roughly 40 months he has already served, Avenatti will now have to serve another 95 months in federal prison, or just under eight years.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in October overturned his original 14-year sentence, saying U.S. District Judge James Selna erred when he did not account for the value of Avenatti’s legal services to his victims and improperly increased the punishment on the grounds of obstruction of justice based on perjury.
Selna “failed to make explicit findings as to the elements of obstruction of justice based on perjury, so the enhancement must be vacated,” the appellate judges ruled.
The appellate judges also sided with Avenatti on Selna erring in an enhancement of the punishment based on his calculation of the $12.3 million from the losses due to fraud.
Ahead of Thursday’s hearing, prosecutors asked that Avenatti be re-sentenced to 160 months, just shy of the original 14-year sentence handed down three years ago. Avenatti was seeking 78 months, minus the time he has already served.
Probation officials recommended 97 months, or roughly 57 more months taking into account time served.
Avenatti’s public defenders argued in court papers that he has been a model inmate while in custody.
“A recent Bureau of Prisons report notes that he `has shown exceptional character, growth, and capacity for change over the last three years,’ has `shown considerable humility and patience, often under difficult circumstances,’ and `has consistently demonstrated remorse and accountability for his crimes,”’ his attorneys argued.
Avenatti was selected as a suicide watch companion for fellow inmates and has completed hundreds of hours of classes, including a drug abuse program, and has regularly attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and religious services and has served as a GED tutor for fellow inmates, his attorneys said.
“Mr. Avenatti acknowledges that nothing can change how much he hurt the former clients he was entrusted to help,” his attorneys said. “Nothing can change the shame he still feels. But Mr. Avenatti has tried his best to show that his remorse and concern for others are real, not through his words, but through his actions while in custody.”
Avenatti pointed to the 57-month sentence given to Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for Shohei Ohtani who stole millions of dollars from the Dodger slugger to pay off gambling debts, as a comparison.
Avenatti also contested the loss amounts claimed by his victims, arguing that many services he provided for the clients were not included in the calculations.
Avenatti argued “the correct loss amount is $1.5 million to $3.5 million.”
Prosecutors argue that the loss to victims was $8.123 million.
Prosecutors allege that Avenatti obstructed justice by lying in various civil and criminal proceedings, but Avenatti disputed that he was ever dishonest in his testimony.
Prosecutors also argued that a criminal history score for Avenatti “substantially under-represents his likelihood of recidivism, given his grudging (at best) admission of what he did wrong in the instant case, and his lack of remorse for his victims, as reflected in his efforts to prevent his victims from recovering any of the monies he stole from them from third parties.”
Prosecutors added that his “crimes were exceedingly serious. Defendant inflicted tremendous harm on his wire fraud victims, who testified about those harms at trial and have submitted victim impact statements that further describe the financial and emotional harms defendant caused.”
One of his clients, who sued and won a settlement after he became a paraplegic, said, “To this day, I do not know why Michael lied and deceived me, why he broke my trust, why he broke my heart. I trusted him implicitly, I believed the things he told me, but it was all part of his plan to defraud me of my settlement. To this day, I have a hard time trusting people because of what Michael did, and I live in constant fear of being taken advantage of again, particularly given my physical disability.”
Prosecutors said all Avenatti has offered was a “bare bones apology” at his original sentencing.
“In sum, defendant used his clients as pawns to line his pockets, live his lifestyle, and buy a jet,” prosecutors said.
Avenatti had made an open plea to tax and wire fraud, meaning he had no guarantee what his sentence would be, in June 2022. Selna’s sentence came down after Avenatti had received five years in prison in New York for an extortion scheme against Nike, and for stealing from Daniels. Selna ordered the punishment to run consecutively with the New York case.