JUST IN: Michael Avenatti Found Guilty Of Wire Fraud, Could Face 20 Years In Prison

A New York jury found infamous celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti guilty of defrauding his former client, porn star Stormy Daniels, of nearly $300,000 in royalties for a book deal she received after going public with allegations of an affair with former President Donald Trump.

Avenatti’s trial in Manhattan federal court ended with a guilty judgment on counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, marking his second criminal conviction in that court.

The 50-year-old Avenatti was convicted at a separate trial at the same courthouse two years ago because of an extortion scheme he was a part of against Nike.

Avenatti is also facing a retrial in a third federal criminal case, which was previously dismissed due to a mistrial in August. In that case, which is now being tried in California, he is accused of defrauding a number of clients out of nearly $10 million dollars.

He is set to be sentenced on May 24th. The multiple criminal cases and lack of income has left Avenatti nearly broke.

During the trial, Avenatti represented himself and claimed he was owed the money he stole from Daniels’ $800,000 advance for her 2018 book.

As part of his testimony, Daniels claimed that he did not have a legal right to any of the money. In addition, prosecutors produced evidence that he falsified her signature on a document, which resulted in her literary agency directing book revenues to an account that he controlled.

Reuters reported, “He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of wire fraud, plus a mandatory two-year term if convicted of aggravated identity theft. If he were acquitted of wire fraud, he must then also be acquitted of identity theft.”

Stay tuned to The Scoop for any updates.