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Michael Avenatti, the lawyer once known for his high-profile cases, including representing Stormy Daniels against Donald Trump, has had his prison term for financial fraud reduced substantially. His sentence, initially set at 14 years, has now been decreased to just under eight years after a resentencing took place in Los Angeles.
Avenatti had faced the original sentencing after admitting to defrauding his clients in California and concealing substantial sums from the IRS.
However, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the initial sentence in October, highlighting that the estimated financial losses to his victims were exaggerated and, therefore, the original prison term was deemed excessively long.
U.S. District Court Judge James Selna on Thursday sentenced Avenatti to 135 months, minus 40 to account for a separate Stormy Daniels fraud sentence.
Michael Avenatti had his sentence reduced on Thursday. (AP)
Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of only a few months less than the 14 years originally handed down.
Ahead of his resentencing, Avenatti appealed for a more lenient sentence by providing details of his alleged personal transformation while behind bars in a 41-page memorandum filed last month.
The memorandum detailed his life at the Terminal Island prison in Los Angeles, describing how he 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.” Avenatti also volunteered in the prison library, assisting academically challenged inmates with legal matters, per the memorandum.
Michael Avenatti speaks to the press outside federal court after Michael Cohen’s sentencing hearing, December 12, 2018 in New York City.
“Since his 2022 original sentencing, [Avenatti] has lived every day of his incarceration seeking to atone for the harm he caused and set his life on a different path,” the filing reads.
Daniels’ case with Avenatti centered on a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) tied to an alleged affair between her and Trump, and the legality of a $130,000 hush money payment made shortly before the 2016 election.
Fox News’ Lee Ross and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
