Disgraced lawyer Michael Avenatti says life behind bars has changed him into a better person and is asking a federal judge to consider that personal transformation when he gets resentenced on May 27.
Avenatti was originally sentenced to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding clients of millions of dollars and hiding millions more from the IRS. He appealed that sentence, and a new hearing was ordered by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which said the trial judge erred by ultimately giving Avenatti a too-lengthy sentence.
“Since his 2022 original sentencing, [Avenatti] has lived every day of his incarceration seeking to atone for the harm he caused and set his life on a different path,” Avenatti’s lawyers wrote on Tuesday in their 41-page argument for a more lenient sentence.
That filing offers details about Avenatti’s life at the Terminal Island prison in Los Angeles. They described how Avenatti is trusted by prison officials to help other inmates – including serving as “suicide watch companion.” He also completed a drug abuse program and “regularly attended AA meetings and religious services.”
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Celebrity attorney Michael Avenatti walks out of a New York courthouse after a hearing on July 23, 2019. (Spencer Platt)
Avenatti’s lawyers also included an internal Bureau of Prisons report, which says he “has been a model inmate….[and] has distinguished himself through his work in the library, where he has voluntarily assisted academically challenged inmates with legal matters.”
The lawyers also claim Avenatti’s prison behavior is a true reflection of his character and done without regard to the upcoming resentencing hearing. “His actions demonstrate remorse, rehabilitation, and a strong desire to become a source of positive change,” they wrote.
Federal guidelines allow for judges to consider an inmate’s good deeds behind bars when resentencing. Prosecutors argue Avenatti is still the same shady lawyer – now disbarred – and still deserves a long sentence.
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The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit building is seen on Feb. 6, 2017, in San Francisco. The appeals court ordered a new hearing after saying the trial judge erred by ultimately giving Michael Avenatti a too-lengthy sentence. (JOSH EDELSON/AFP)
“Defendant’s egregious violations of his duties and the trust placed in him by his clients, his infliction of great harm by stealing millions of dollars from them, and his greed and arrogance leading to the calculated choices and deception that he carried out for years against his clients and the IRS, all remain the same,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brett Sagel and Ranaee Katzenstein wrote in their filing submitted early Wednesday morning.
Avenatti’s release date is currently set for July 31, 2035. He is asking U.S. District Court Judge James Selna for a sentence that would have him released in just a few years. Prosecutors are asking for a sentence of only a few months less than the 14 years originally handed down.
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Former lawyer Michael Avenatti stands next to his most famous client, adult film actress Stormy Daniels, during a news conference. (Mary Altaffer, File)
Both filings offer detailed arguments about the different factors they want Selna to reconsider at the upcoming hearing, including determinations about how to properly assess how much money Avenatti’s clients actually lost. Those technical determinations are significant as they influence the severity of the sentence. In essence, as the financial amounts increase, so does the sentence. The appellate court ruled Selna miscalculated some of those losses at the original sentencing hearing.
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“Mr. Avenatti acknowledges that nothing can change how much he hurt the former clients he was entrusted to help,” federal public defender Margaret Farrand wrote about her client. “Nothing can change the shame he still feels. But Mr. Avenatti has tried his best to show that his remorse and concern for others are real, not through his words, but through his actions while in custody.”
This case is separate from Avenatti’s other convictions for attempting to extort Nike and stealing money from his most famous client, Stormy Daniels. Avenatti’s attempts to get those convictions and sentences overturned on appeal all failed.
