Incarcerated lawyer Michael Avenatti was sentenced to a 14-year prison term on Monday for defrauding former clients out of millions of dollars and trying to stop the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from taking payroll taxes from a coffee shop he owned.
In the California case, Avenatti defrauded four clients out of around $7.6 million from lawsuits that he won for them, only to steal the money to fund a lavish lifestyle, according to federal authorities.
According to the Department of Justice, Avenatti stole money from client trust accounts after receiving it on their behalf, lied to them about receiving it, or in one instance, claimed that it had already been given to them….