Michael Avenatti's Sentencing Developments

Michael Avenatti's sentencing has been thrown out by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals due to errors made in calculating his sentence, which initially totaled 14 years for multiple fraud convictions. The court found that the sentencing judge improperly added an obstruction of justice enhancement and failed to give Avenatti credit for the legal work he completed that benefited his clients. Avenatti argued that the money he received as permission for his legal services should not count against him as a loss, and the appeals court agreed with this perspective. While this ruling could lead to a reduced sentence, the judge ultimately retains the discretion to set a new sentence and could opt to impose a similar or even higher sentence based on other factors.