Disgraced lawyer Michael Avenatti was sentenced to four years in prison on Thursday by a federal judge in New York for stealing book proceeds from his former client Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress.
Avenatti is currently serving a 2 1/2-year sentence after he was convicted in 2020 for trying to extort Nike for up to $25 million. Judge Jesse M. Furman said that Avenatti will now spend an additional 2 1/2 years on top of his already existing sentence, according to the Associated Press.
Avenatti was convicted in February after he was found guilty of one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
Daniels signed a book deal with the help of Avenatti in 2018 for "Full Disclosure," which included details of her alleged affair with Donald Trump, and was paid $800,000. Prosecutors said that he took about $300,000 of the advanced payment from her.
The judge said that Avenatti "took advantage of a vulnerable victim given her unorthodox career and somewhat unorthodox beliefs," according to CNN.
He was ordered to pay $297,900 to the U.S. and $148,750 to Daniels.
Avenatti previously represented Daniels in lawsuits that alleged she received $130,000 before the 2016 presidential election to keep quiet about her allegations of having an affair with Trump.
He represented himself during the trial earlier this year, and cross-examined Daniels. He claimed that some of the book advance was his even though that was not included in their contract.
The 51-year-old then wrote an apology letter to Daniels in May, saying he was "truly sorry" for his actions.
"It is obvious that I failed you in many respects and that I disappointed you and let you down in multiple ways," Avenatti wrote, according to AP. "I wish that we could turn back the clock so that the mistakes I made would never be repeated. I am truly sorry."
Although, prosecutors said that Avenatti didn't apologize for the crime he committed in the letter and did not show any remorse during the trial.
"The defendant certainly had every right to defend himself at trial. But he is not entitled to a benefit for showing remorse, having done so only when convenient and only after seeking to humiliate his victim at a public trial, and denigrating and insulting her for months to her agent and publisher while holding himself out as taking up her cause against the powerful who might have taken advantage of her," prosecutors wrote.
Avenatti will be transferred back to California where he goes on trial next month on charges that allege he embezzled $10 million in settlement funds from at least five people, according to CNN.
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