Perverted Lives of the Rich and Famous - Michael Avenatti to Prison again; Jacob Hoggard Guilty on 2 Counts; Weinstein, Spacey to be Charged in UK

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Michael Avenatti sentenced to 4 years in prison for defrauding Trump accuser Stormy Daniels

Disgraced lawyer will serve part of that time concurrently with his sentence from a separate conviction

Thomson Reuters · 

Posted: Jun 02, 2022 12:26 PM ET 

Adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, speaks to the media along with lawyer Michael Avenatti in New York City on April 16, 2018. Avenatti will be imprisoned for defrauding his former client. (Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters)

Michael Avenatti, the brash California lawyer who once took on then-president Donald Trump, was sentenced on Thursday to four years in prison for defrauding his best-known former client, the adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

A federal jury in Manhattan convicted Avenatti, 51, in February of wire fraud and aggravated identity after a two-week trial, agreeing that he embezzled nearly $300,000 US in book proceeds intended for Daniels.

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman imposed the sentence in federal court in Manhattan.

Avenatti, 51, had already been serving a two and a half year sentence stemming from his 2020 conviction for trying to extort millions of dollars from Nike Inc.

Eighteen months of the Daniels sentence will run concurrent with the Nike sentence, meaning Avenatti faces a combined five years in prison.

Avenatti, who represented himself, proposed a three-year sentence in the Daniels case, with one year running concurrent with his Nike sentence.

"I have destroyed my career, my relationships and my reputation," Avenatti told Furman before being sentenced in the Daniels case.

He wore beige prison garb and blue sneakers to the sentencing, after Furman rejected his request that he be allowed to wear a suit.

'Betrayed' by Avenatti: Daniels

Avenatti became a household name thanks to cable television appearances while representing Daniels in lawsuits against Trump.

Daniels, whose given name is Stephanie Clifford, received $130,000 US from Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, in exchange for remaining quiet before the 2016 presidential election about sexual encounters she says she had years earlier with Trump.

Michael Avenatti found guilty of defrauding Stormy Daniels over Trump book money

Avenatti freed Daniels from her nondisclosure agreement with Trump.

"No one else had the guts to take her case," Avenatti said before Furman handed down his sentence, speaking from the courtroom lectern with a U.S. marshal standing beside him.

"I believed we could take down a sitting U.S. president who was the biggest threat to our democracy in modern times."

But Avenatti's career unraveled in 2019 when he was criminally charged in New York in the Nike case, and in California with stealing millions of dollars from five other clients. The California case is ongoing following a mistrial last August.

In this case, his client, Daniels, had signed a book deal that provided an $800,000 payout. Prosecutors said Avenatti illegally pocketed about $300,000 of her advance on Full Disclosure, published in the fall of 2018.

The book's publication came at a time when Avenatti's law practice was failing financially even as he appeared regularly on cable television news channels, attacking Trump.

Daniels testified that Avenatti "betrayed" her by diverting money to an account he controlled without telling her. During cross-examination, Avenatti tried to undermine Daniels's credibility by focusing on her interest in paranormal activity. Daniels, who is producing the TV project Spooky Babes, said she could speak with the dead.

Daniels was not in court for Thursday's sentencing. Her current lawyer, Clark Brewster, spoke on her behalf, saying Avenatti's behaviour was "truly shocking."

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Jacob Hoggard found guilty of sexual assault against one complainant

By Irelyne Lavery  Global News

Posted June 5, 2022 4:49 pm

Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard found guilty of sexual assault against 1 complainant

Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard has been found not guilty on two out of three counts after jurors reached a verdict in the sex assault trial of the former Hedley lead singer.

He was found guilty on one charge of sexual assault causing bodily harm to a young Ottawa woman.

Hoggard was found not guilty of sexual interference and sex assault causing bodily harm to a 16 year old.

Prosecutors alleged Hoggard groped a 15-year-old fan after a Hedley show in Toronto in April 2016, then violently raped her in a Toronto-area hotel room later that year, after she turned 16.

They alleged he violently raped an Ottawa woman in a Toronto hotel in November 2016. Both complainants testified they were left bleeding and bruised.

Hoggard testified during trial that he had consensual, “passionate” sex with the complainants, and his lawyers allege the women made up the allegations after being rejected by the singer.

The women however say Hoggard slapped them, spit in their mouths and called them derogatory names. They also said testified he choked them.

The crown urged jurors to consider similarities between the events recalled by the two complainants who had never met or spoken to each other. They argued they reflected a pattern of conduct.

Deliberations began Tuesday afternoon.

Hoggard hugged his wife in the courtroom after the verdict was read. She wiped tears away from her eyes as he returned to his seat in a dark coloured suit.

The jury appeared to be composed of 10 men and two women.

In March, Hoggard was charged in another alleged sexual assault for an incident alleged to have taken place on June 25, 2016 in Kirkland Lake, ON.

The new charge is due back before the court on Aug. 4.

Harvey Weinstein to be charged in U.K. over assault claims

Jailed film executive faces 2 new counts of indecent assault 

involving a London woman in 1996

The Associated Press · 

Posted: Jun 08, 2022 11:53 am et

British prosecutors said Wednesday they have authorized police to charge ex-film producer Harvey Weinstein with two counts of indecent assault against a woman in London in 1996.

The Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement that "charges have been authorized" against Weinstein, 70, following a review of evidence gathered by London's Metropolitan Police.

Police said the offences against the woman, now in her 50s, allegedly took place in July and August 1996.

After revelations about Weinstein emerged in 2017, British police said they were investigating multiple allegations of sexual assault against Weinstein that reportedly took place between the 1980s and 2015.

Unlike many other countries, Britain does not have a statute of limitations for rape or sexual assault.

Weinstein is serving a 23-year sentence for rape after his 2020 conviction in New York for offences against two women.

He is jailed in California, where he was extradited last year, and is awaiting trial on charges he assaulted five women in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills from 2004 to 2013.

Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape, sexual assault

Weinstein, the co-founder of the Miramax entertainment company and The Weinstein Company film studio, was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, having produced films such as Pulp Fiction and The Crying Game.

The announcement in England on Wednesday came two weeks after U.K. prosecutors authorized police to charge actor Kevin Spacey with four counts of sexual assault against three men. The alleged incidents took place in London between March 2005 and August 2008, and one in western England in April 2013.

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Biles, Raisman, other US gymnasts file $1 bn claim against FBI

Wed, 8 June 2022, 8:23 am·2-min read

Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and other star US gymnasts filed a $1 billion claim against the FBI on Wednesday for alleged mishandling of the investigation into sexual abuse by predatory former team doctor Larry Nassar.

Nassar, 58, is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty in late 2017 and early 2018 to sexually assaulting athletes while working as a sports medicine doctor at USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University.

Hundreds of women -- including Olympic gold medalists Biles, Raisman and McKayla Maroney -- have accused Nassar of sexually abusing them during his more than two-decade career.

Biles, Raisman and Maroney are among the more than 90 women who have filed the federal tort claim against the FBI, the law firm handling the case, Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, said in a statement.

"The majority of claimants consists of over 90 young women and girls who were abused after 2015 due to the FBI's failure to take required steps to protect them," the law firm said.

Maroney said in a statement that "my fellow survivors and I were betrayed by every institution that was supposed to protect us -- the US Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics, the FBI."

"I had some hope that they would keep their word and hold the FBI accountable," she said. "It is clear that the only path to justice and healing is through the legal process."

The law firm said the FBI received credible complaints in July 2015 of Nassar's sexual assaults and was "then able to immediately end Nassar's predation."

"However, the FBI was grossly derelict in their duties by declining to interview gymnasts who were willing to talk about the abuse," it said.

"As a result, Nassar continued his predatory behavior, sexually assaulting approximately 90 young women and children between July 28, 2015, and September 12, 2016," it added.

The claim against the FBI comes just days after the Department of Justice announced it was not bringing any charges against two now-retired FBI special agents who mishandled the Nassar investigation.

Nassar's victims reached a $380 million settlement with USA Gymnastics last year, one of the largest ever recorded for victims of sex abuse.

USA Gymnastics filed for bankruptcy in 2018 after a tidal wave of allegations against Nassar swamped the organization.

Michigan State University reached a $500 million settlement with hundreds of Nassar's victims in 2018.

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