Michael Avenatti Found Guilty of Stealing Nearly $300,000 From Stormy Daniels

Disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti has been convicted of swindling hundreds of thousands of dollars from his former client Stormy Daniels.

Associated Press reports Avenatti was found guilty of both wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in a Manhattan federal court on Friday. The charges stem from allegations that the 50-year-old attorney stole nearly $300,000 that Daniels was supposed to receive for Full Disclosure—a 2018 memoir that detailed her alleged tryst with former president Donald Trump.

Daniels, an adult film star whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, secured the book deal in 2018, shortly after it was revealed that Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen had paid Daniels $130,000 in hush money. The memoir’s publisher reportedly agreed to pay Daniels a total of $800,000 in four installments. However, prosecutors allege that after Daniels received the first payment, Avenatti told his client’s literary agent to direct future payments to a bank account he controlled.

Avenatti now faces up to 22 years in prison.

This story is being updated.