He was accused of negotiating and collecting settlement payments on behalf of his clients and instead funneling the money to accounts he controlled.
— Incarcerated lawyer Michael Avenatti was sentenced in Southern California on Monday to 14 years in prison and ordered to pay $7 million in restitution after admitting he cheated four of his clients out of millions of dollars.
The sentence should run consecutively to the five-year prison term he is currently serving for separate convictions in New York, U.S. District Judge James V. Selna said during a hearing in Santa Ana, California.
Avenatti pleaded guilty earlier this year to four counts of wire fraud and a tax-related charge without reaching a plea deal with federal prosecutors, saying he wanted to be accountable and spare his family further embarrassment. He was accused of negotiating and collecting settlement payments on behalf of his clients and instead funneling the money to accounts he controlled.
Before sentencing, Avenatti apologized to the four victims in the case, three of whom were in the courtroom.
