Lawyer Michael Avenatti was convicted this Friday of having defrauded porn actress Stormy Daniels: he stole almost $300,000 that she should have received for writing a book about her alleged meeting with former President Donald Trump.
Avenatti, who acted as his own attorney in the proceedings, said he was disappointed by the jury's verdict as he left the New York federal courtroom.
"I look forward to a full adjudication of all issues on appeal," he said.
Michael Avenatti speaks with members of the media after leaving Federal Court in New York. John Minchillo / AP
He was found guilty in a unanimous verdict on two counts of wire fraud and identity theft for improperly keeping approximately $300,000 of the $800,000 advance paid to Daniels for his book
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Daniels told Noticias Telemundo's sister network NBC News that she was "ecstatic" and viewed the ruling as a victory.
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“I am aware that I will never get my money back and I am concerned that if it had turned out the other way around it would set a very scary precedent for people in the adult film industry,” said the actress.
She also thanked the jurors for not basing her decision on prejudice about her work.
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"Grateful to the jurors who
put aside prejudicial notions about me or my work and the things I've done, and put that aside and looked at the evidence," she
added.
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District Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered Avenatti to surrender to federal authorities Monday in California.
Sentencing was set for May 24, and Daniels is expected to speak at the verdict reading.
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The attorney has deferred serving a 2 1/2-year prison sentence for his 2020 conviction in an extortion case, pending trial for book proceeds and retrial of a fraud case in federal court. Of California.
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For his part, Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal lawyer and who made payments to Daniels to hide the alleged affair with the former president, said that justice had been done upon learning of the conviction.
"Michael Avenatti has proven himself to be what I have always known him to be: a con man, a liar and a thief," he added.
With information from the
Associate Press
and
NBC News
