Michael Avenatti, once a media darling and fierce critic of Donald Trump, just had his prison sentence dramatically cut.
Originally sentenced to 14 years for stealing millions from clients and dodging the IRS, Avenatti will now serve just under eight years total. The decision came after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the initial sentence was based on an inflated loss estimate. That triggered Thursday’s resentencing in Los Angeles federal court.
Judge James Selna reduced the sentence to 135 months but deducted 40 months already served in a separate Stormy Daniels case. That brings Avenatti’s new total to 95 months — putting his release in mid-2029.
The Daniels case, in which Avenatti stole hundreds of thousands from her book advance, was factored in because of its similarity and timing. His convictions remain intact, including wire fraud and tax obstruction.
Security was tight outside the courthouse. National Guard troops stood watch, and the building showed visible damage from earlier anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles — boarded doors and cracked windows.
Prosecutors had asked for only a slightly reduced sentence from the original 14 years. But Avenatti made a personal appeal, representing himself and filing a 41-page memo about his transformation behind bars.
“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,” the memo read.
He claimed to serve as a suicide watch companion, attend AA meetings, and help inmates in the prison library with legal work. He also completed a drug treatment program while incarcerated at Terminal Island in Los Angeles.
Avenatti was disbarred in California and no longer practices law. His original 14-year sentence stemmed from a 2022 guilty plea to four counts of wire fraud and one count of tax obstruction. Prosecutors said he funneled client settlements into personal accounts and blew the money on a lavish lifestyle.
This case is separate from his failed attempts to extort Nike and his theft from Stormy Daniels — both of which landed him additional convictions. His appeals on those charges have all failed.
While Avenatti asked for a sentence that would end in just a few years, he’ll now serve until 2029. That’s six years earlier than his original release date of July 2035.