Michael Avenatti guilty of fraud in Stormy Daniels case

Feb. 4 (UPI) — A federal jury in Manhattan found lawyer Michael Avenatti guilty of cheating his former client, Stormy Daniels, out of nearly $300,000 on Friday.

The verdict came after about 15 hours of deliberation across three days. Avenatti faces up to 20 years in prison on a wire fraud charge and a mandatory sentence of two years on an aggravated identity theft charge.

He was ordered to surrender to authorities in California by 5 p.m. Monday.

Avenatti said he was “disappointed” in the verdict.

“I look forward to a full adjudication of all the issues,” he told Fox Business.

Federal prosecutors said Avenatti convinced Daniels’ literary agent to send him nearly $300,000 in publisher’s payments intended for her. Avenatti said Daniels, an adult film star born Stephanie Clifford, agreed to giving him part of her book advance in exchange for him representing her in a case involving allegations she had a sexual relationship with former President Donald Trump.

Avenatti represented himself during part of his trial, saying he and his original lawyers disagreed on how they would question a witness.

Last year, Avenatti was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for his attempt to extort more than $20 million from Nike.
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