Glad I got my pun out in time. They jury in U.S. v. Avenatti just convicted Michael Avenatti of stealing nearly $300,000 from Stormy Daniels.
As discussed in my previous article, on May 22, 2019, federal charges were brought against Avenatti alleging he stole money from a book deal signed by his most famous ex-client, Stormy Daniels. After Daniels' hush-money dispute with Donald Trump, Avenatti helped Daniels negotiate a book deal for her memoir— "Full Disclosure"—that included an $800,000 advance. However, through an "unauthorized letter” to Daniels’ literary agent bearing a forgery of Daniels' signature, Avenatti pocketed nearly $300,000 of those monies due Daniels. As the prosecutors pointed out, Avenatti used the looted money for a range of personal and business expenses, including monthly lease payments of $3,900 for a Ferrari. The prosecutors thus charged Avenatti with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. After a long battle that included Avenatti's attempt to move the case to California, an entertaining cross examination that explored Daniels' paranormal experiences, a potential hung jury scare, today the jury found Avenatti guilty of both wire fraud and identity theft.
