A federal appeals court has upheld lawyer Michael Avenatti's conviction for defrauding former client Stormy Daniels, the porn actress who claimed to have had a sexual encounter with Donald Trump.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan released its decision on Wednesday morning.
Avenatti was convicted of wire fraud but appealed claiming the district court provided confusing instructions to the jury and wrongly pressured the jury into returning a verdict when it appeared deadlocked.
He also argued that following his conviction the court unlawfully modified the sequence of his restitution payments and claimed a recent Supreme Court decision mandates that his conviction for aggravated identity theft be vacated.
The court rejected all four claims as "without merit" in a unanimous 3-0 decision.
A federal public defender representing Avenatti did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in Manhattan declined to comment.
Avenatti, 53, was sentenced to four years in prison following his February 2022 conviction for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for stealing about $300,000 that Daniels was supposed to receive in connection with a book contract.
Avenatti exploited his position of trust and authority, forged her signature, and lied to her and others repeatedly for several months, the jury found.
The judge allowed him to serve about half of his sentence at the same time he served prison time for a separate conviction for trying to extort millions from Nike in February 2020.
