Remember this guy? Porn Star Stormy Daniels’ former lawyer Michael Avenatti plead guilty to multiple charges including fraud and tax evasion. The two-time convicted lawyer was once revered by the left as being a pentacle of virtue as he represented a porn star in a case against then-President Trump.
The case, was of course, was dropped because it was unfounded. The pair then targeted Trump in a defamation suit but lost that case twice. Avenatti lost a suit against his form client Daniels after he reportedly stole $300k from her book deal. I don’t think you could accuse this guy of being a good lawyer because he represented himself in both cases.
It looks like Avenatti will now face jail time—The Justice Department published details about his latest crimes:
“Avenatti admitted guilt in each of the four legal matters discussed in a federal grand jury indictment that charged him with embezzling money from clients. Avenatti admitted that he engaged in the conduct charged in the four counts of the indictment, which includes receiving money on behalf of clients into client trust accounts, misappropriating the money, and lying to the clients about receiving the money or, in one case, claiming that the money had already been sent to the client.
The charge of endeavoring to obstruct the administration of the Internal Revenue Code is one of 19 tax-related offenses in the indictment. In relation to the tax count he pleaded guilty to today, Avenatti admitted that he corruptly obstructed and impeded the IRS’s efforts to collect unpaid payroll taxes, which the government estimates amount to approximately $5 million and include payroll taxes that he been withheld from the paychecks of employees of the Avenatti-owned company that operated Tully’s Coffee.
After pleading guilty today, Avenatti still faces a total of 31 counts – six wire fraud charges, 18 tax-related charges, two counts of bank fraud related to alleged false statements he made in an attempt to obtain loans from a federally insured financial institution, one count of aggravated identity theft for misusing the name of a tax preparer in relation to the bank fraud scheme, and four counts of bankruptcy fraud related to alleged false statements he made after his law firm was forced into bankruptcy.”
According to the statement, the government is reviewing the case to determine how it will move forward after today’s guilty pleas. In the event that the government elects to proceed on the remaining counts, Judge Selna will vacate the September 19 sentencing date.
