By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Lawyer Michael Avenatti “got tangled in his own web of lies” after embezzling money from his former client, porn star Stormy Daniels, a U.S. prosecutor said on Wednesday during closing arguments in Avenatti’s fraud trial.
Avenatti, 50, who is being tried in federal court in Manhattan on charges of wire fraud and identity theft, faces up to 22 years in prison if convicted.
He is accused of routing nearly $300,000 in book proceeds destined for Daniels to an account he controlled in 2018, as the pair were rocketing to fame for their confrontation with then-President Donald Trump.
Daniels, whose given name is Stephanie Clifford, testified last week that when she pressed Avenatti about the payments, he led her to believe the publishing company was late in disbursing advances for her memoir, “Full Disclosure.” She later discovered that he already had the funds.
“She thought he was her advocate. But he betrayed her, and he told lies to try to cover it all up,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Sobelman told the jury at the close of the eight-day trial. “The defendant got tangled in his own web of lies. He got caught.”
Avenatti, who is representing himself in the case, has pleaded not guilty and has downplayed the dispute as a disagreement over legal fees that has no place in criminal court. He is expected to give a closing argument later on Wednesday before the jury begins deliberations.
The Los Angeles-based lawyer has argued that the contract he signed to represent Daniels in cases against Trump entitled him to a reasonable portion of her book proceeds. In the trial’s most memorable moment, he cross-examined his former client about her interest in paranormal activities in an effort to undermine her credibility.
Daniels, 42, is known for receiving $130,000 in hush money from Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to keep quiet ahead of the 2016 election about sexual encounters she says she had with Trump, who denies they took place. Avenatti successfully sued Trump to get Daniels out of the nondisclosure agreement.
The charges are the latest in a slew of criminal allegations that have ended Avenatti’s legal career. The brash lawyer is appealing a conviction and a 2-1/2-year prison sentence for extorting Nike Inc, and faces dozens of other federal charges in California that he defrauded other clients.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Jonathan Oatis)
