A federal appeals panel vacated a 14-year prison term for suspended lawyer Michael Avenatti, who rose to fame representing porn actor Stormy Daniels against former President Trump and was later convicted of bilking California clients. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday that Avenatti’s sentence was based on calculations of a greater loss than was actually suffered. The court sent the case back to a lower court for resentencing, the Associated Press reports.
The judicial panel discussed whether the sentence should run concurrently to prison time Avenatti is serving for stealing book proceeds from Daniels, who sued to break a confidentiality agreement with Trump to stay mum about an affair she said they had, and for trying to extort Nike. Avenatti, who was suspended from practicing law in California, has been representing himself. He pleaded guilty in 2022 to four counts of wire fraud and a tax-related charge, saying he wanted to be accountable and spare his family further embarrassment. Authorities said Avenatti negotiated and collected settlement payments on behalf of his clients, then funneled the money to accounts he controlled and spent it on his own lavish lifestyle.
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