Michael Avenatti cited unfavorable discussions about him on social media as he sought to reduce his sentence for misappropriating money from legal clients.
"Defendant deserves just punishment for his crimes, including a prison sentence," federal prosecutors argued in a 52-page filing. "He likewise deserves to lose his law license, his 22-year career, his assets, his countless personal and professional relationships, and his reputation, almost all of which have already been rightly taken from him."
Prosecutors asked for a 210-month sentence, which is 17.5 years.
Avenatti's lawyers repeatedly cited social media in a bid for a 72-month or six-year sentence.
"He should be treated and sentenced based on his life as a whole across the last 51 years, not his notoriety; the desire of the government and others to make an example out of him; unbridled vindictiveness; and/or what those in the media, or on social media, may say after his sentencing," his attorneys argued in a 75-page filing.
"Moreover, defendant has already been made an example of on a national stage, repeatedly," Avenatti's lawyers argued. "The message has already been sent to the public and attorneys nationwide, plastered across DOJ press releases and press conferences, TV, social media, and newspapers."
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