ADVERTISEMENT

Former CNN Personality Michael Avenatti Sentenced to 14 More Years for Fraud

Disgraced attorney already serving five years for stealing from porn star, attempting to extort Nike

December 5, 2022

Michael Avenatti, the former CNN personality and onetime Democratic presidential frontrunner who is currently serving prison time for multiple felony convictions, on Monday was sentenced again in Southern California to 14 more years.

WATCH: That Time the Media Dubbed Michael Avenatti 'Savior of the Republic'

The sentence was announced after the incarcerated porn lawyer pleaded guilty earlier this year to multiple counts of wire fraud and admitted to stealing money from his clients. A U.S. District Court judge on Monday also ordered Avenatti to pay $7 million in restitution.

Avenatti's latest prison sentence will run consecutively to the five-year term he is already serving for separate convictions. He was previously convicted of stealing book proceeds from his porn star client Stormy Daniels. Avenatti became a media celebrity while representing Daniels during her legal battle against former president Donald Trump, with whom she allegedly had an affair. He was also convicted of attempting to extort Nike to the tune of $25 million.

Prosecutors, who had requested that Avenatti be sentenced to an additional 17.5 years, said the disgraced attorney's "deplorable acts" were the result of "calculated choices and egregious violations of the trust." Avenatti, who represented himself, told the judge he was "deeply remorseful and contrite" and therefore deserved no more than six years in prison for his crimes.

Avenatti's anti-Trump antagonism made him a ubiquitous presence on cable news in 2018. He once appeared on 10 different shows in a 24-hour period. Former CNN host Brian Stelter, among others, went so far as to suggest that Avenatti was a "serious contender" to win the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. Avenatti was arrested in March 2019.