Federal appeals court orders a new sentence for former Stormy Daniels' attorney Michael Avenatti

A federal appeals court on Wednesday unanimously ordered a trial court to re-sentence disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison for swindling money from his clients. 

Avenatti pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud and one tax charge in 2022, without agreeing to a plea deal with federal prosecutors. He has also been convicted of aggravated identity theft, and plotting to extort Nike, in two other criminal cases. 

The former attorney rose to prominence when representing former porn star Stormy Daniels in her case against former President Donald Trump. He has also been convicted of aggravated identity theft for stealing Daniels’ book proceeds.

The three-judge panel determined that the judge focused too heavily on a perjury enhancement and not enough on Avenatti's legal services or the money he repaid to victims, when imposing the 168-months prison sentence, according to The Hill.

“I am thankful that a UNANIMOUS three judge panel of the 9th Circuit threw out my draconian prison sentence today,” Avenatti posted to X. “The sentence was always grossly unjust and violative of my most basic constitutional rights, but the government sought it anyway solely because of who I am. We ALL deserve due process.”

The panel also weighed in on whether Avenatti would serve his four-year sentence in the identity theft case, and the two-and-a-half years sentence for the Nike case, at the same time as he serves the main sentence when the new one is handed down. But the decision on whether to merge the sentences with the new one will be decided by the trial court.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.