Michael Avenatti, a disgraced lawyer, claims that his time in prison has transformed him into a better individual and is requesting that a federal judge take this personal growth into account during his resentencing on May 27.
Initially, Avenatti received a 14-year prison sentence after admitting to defrauding clients of millions and concealing additional funds from the IRS. He challenged this sentence, leading the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to order a new hearing, citing that the trial judge had imposed an excessively long sentence.
“Since the 2022 original sentencing, [Avenatti] has spent each day of his incarceration striving to make amends for the harm he inflicted and to change the direction of his life,” Avenatti’s attorneys stated in their 41-page plea for a reduced sentence filed on Tuesday.
That filing offers details about Avenatti’s life at the Terminal Island prison in Los Angeles. They described how Avenatti is trusted by prison officials to help other inmates – including serving as “suicide watch companion.” He also completed a drug abuse program and “regularly attended AA meetings and religious services.”
Former lawyer Michael Avenatti stands next to his most famous client, adult film actress Stormy Daniels, during a news conference. (Mary Altaffer, File)
Both filings offer detailed arguments about the different factors they want Selna to reconsider at the upcoming hearing, including determinations about how to properly assess how much money Avenatti’s clients actually lost. Those technical determinations are significant as they influence the severity of the sentence. In essence, as the financial amounts increase, so does the sentence. The appellate court ruled Selna miscalculated some of those losses at the original sentencing hearing.
“Mr. Avenatti acknowledges that nothing can change how much he hurt the former clients he was entrusted to help,” federal public defender Margaret Farrand wrote about her client. “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.”
This case is separate from Avenatti’s other convictions for attempting to extort Nike and stealing money from his most famous client, Stormy Daniels. Avenatti’s attempts to get those convictions and sentences overturned on appeal all failed.
