Lawyer Michael Avenatti speaks to the media after he walks out of federal court in New York, New York, U.S., March 25, 2019.
The judge also ordered Avenatti to pay more than $10.8 million in restitution to four clients and to the Internal Revenue Service.
Michael Avenatti, the brash lawyer who gained notoriety for legal actions involving former President Donald Trump , was sentenced Monday in California to 14 years in prison for stealing about $7.6 million from clients, as well as for tax fraud.
For months in 2018, Avenatti was a ubiquitous presence on television news shows, where he delighted in verbally skewering the president and Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen.
"He stole millions of dollars from his clients – all to finance his extravagant lifestyle that included a private jet and race cars," the top prosecutor said.