Michael Avenatti

Michael John Avenatti (born February 16, 1971) is an American former attorney currently incarcerated in federal prison for felony fraud and extortion. He is best known for his legal representation of adult film actress Stormy Daniels in lawsuits against then U.S. President Donald Trump, and his multiple convictions for attempting to extort sports apparel company Nike and defrauding and embezzling settlement money from a series of other clients. In the late 2010s, Avenatti appeared extensively on television and in print as a legal and political commentator, and as a representative for prominent clients.

In March 2019, Avenatti was indicted in California and New York on various criminal counts including extortion, tax evasion, fraud, and embezzlement. On February 14, 2020, Avenatti was convicted of extorting Nike in a New York court, and on July 8, 2021, he was sentenced to 30 months in prison. In a subsequent case, he was sentenced to four years of prison for a financial crime against Stormy Daniels, with 18 of those months to be served concurrently with the Nike sentence, thus adding 30 months to his total time to serve. He has been imprisoned since February 7, 2022. On December 5, 2022, he was sentenced to an additional 14 years for stealing millions from clients, bringing his total sentence to 19 years without the possibility of parole. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the latter sentence on October 23, 2024 and ordered him resentenced. He was disbarred from practice in California on February 5, 2025.