Criminal Justice
Stormy Daniels’ former lawyer Michael Avenatti released from prison, moved to halfway house
Lawyer Michael Avenatti speaks to members of the media in February 2022 after leaving federal court in New York. (Photo by John Minchillo/The Associated Press)
Michael Avenatti, the once-high-profile attorney best known for representing adult film actress Stormy Daniels in her unsuccessful defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump, has been transferred from federal prison to a halfway house in Hollywood in Los Angeles.
His projected release date is September 2028.
Avenatti must pay $5,937,725.58 in restitution to his victims, according to the probation order signed by Senior U.S. District Judge James Selna of the Central District of California. He’s also been ordered to participate in a mental health treatment program.
In June 2022, Avenatti was convicted and sentenced to 48 months in prison for stealing nearly $300,000 in proceeds from Daniels. At the time of his sentencing, he was already serving a 30-month sentence for threatening to extort $25 million from Nike.
Avenatti was also sentenced in December 2022 to 14 years in prison for stealing from four of his clients, according to a story by Fox News. The 14-year sentence was tossed out in 2024 by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at San Francisco, which determined that the judge made several sentencing errors.
Following his release from federal custody in 2028, Avenatti will be under supervised release for three years, according to Fox News.
TMZ also had coverage.
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