Disgraced lawyer Michael Avenatti sentenced to 4 years in prison for stealing from porn star client Stormy Daniels

Disgraced lawyer Michael Avenatti was sentenced to four years behind bars for defrauding his porn star client Stormy Daniels out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. On Thursday, a federal judge in New York slapped Avenatti with a prison sentence – the second time in less than a year that the attorney has been ordered to the clink.

In February, Avenatti was convicted of wire fraud and aggravated identity fraud. The charges presented up to two years in prison and 20 years in prison, respectively.

The California attorney was found guilty of wrongly pocketing approximately $300,000 of the $800,000 advance that was paid to Daniels for her book "Full Disclosure" – which detailed an alleged sexual encounter with Donald Trump before he was president.

In Manhattan federal court, U.S. District Court Judge Jesse M. Furman sentenced Avenatti to four years in prison for cheating Daniels — real name Stephanie Clifford — out of book proceeds. The judge ruled that Avenatti could have 30 months of the four-year prison sentence run concurrently with his current stint in the slammer, CNBC reported.

Avenatti, 51, spoke for 12 minutes while wearing his prison uniform at the sentencing – where he admitted that he used "poor judgment" and committed a "series of mistakes," according to Fox News.

"I will forever be branded ‘disgraced lawyer’ and worse," Avenatti told the courtroom.

Avenatti – who represented himself during the trial – reportedly sent an apology letter to Daniels, but the judge said his overture was "too little, too late."

Judge Furman called the bombastic lawyer's behavior "craven and egregious," CBS News reported.

Avenatti – who had been a media darling – is already serving a 30-month prison sentence for attempting to extort $25 million out of Nike in 2019.

In 2020, Avenatti was convicted for extortion, transmission of interstate communications with intent to extort, and wire fraud.