Lawyer Michael Avenatti Sentenced to 14 Years for Stealing Millions From Clients

Published Nov. 6, 2026. Case status is current as of that date.

A settlement check for an injured client is not the lawyer’s emergency cash. On Dec. 5, 2022, suspended plaintiffs’ lawyer Michael John Avenatti, 51, was sentenced in Santa Ana federal court to 168 months (14 years) in prison for stealing millions of dollars from clients—including a paraplegic client with mental-health issues—and for obstructing IRS collection of more than $3 million in payroll taxes from an Avenatti-owned coffee business [1].

Status: U.S. District Judge James V. Selna ordered the 14-year term to run consecutive to sentences totaling five years previously imposed in two Southern District of New York cases, and ordered $10,810,709 in restitution to four clients and the IRS. Avenatti had pleaded guilty June 16 to four counts of wire fraud and one count of endeavoring to obstruct administration of the internal revenue laws [1].

What the court addressed

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California [1]:

1. Avenatti stole millions from clients, one of whom was a paraplegic with mental-health issues.
2. He also obstructed IRS efforts to collect more than $3 million in payroll taxes tied to a coffee business he owned.
3. Judge Selna said Avenatti “has done great evil for which he must answer.”

The person sentenced

Michael John Avenatti, 51. Former Newport Beach–area plaintiffs’ lawyer (license suspended). Sentenced to 168 months consecutive to prior S.D.N.Y. terms; $10,810,709 restitution [1].

Case status (as of Nov. 6, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status	Source
Michael John Avenatti, 51	U.S. District Court, C.D. Cal. (Judge James V. Selna)	Pleaded guilty June 16, 2022 (4 wire fraud + tax obstruction); sentenced Dec. 5, 2022 to 168 months consecutive to ~5 years S.D.N.Y.; $10,810,709 restitution	[1]

Statuses can change, including through appeal.

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California, “Lawyer Michael Avenatti Sentenced to 14 Years in Federal Prison for Stealing Millions of Dollars from Clients and Tax Fraud,” Dec. 5, 2022. https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/lawyer-michael-avenatti-sentenced-14-years-federal-prison-stealing-millions-dollars