LOS ANGELES — Disgraced lawyer Michael Avenatti, who rose to national prominence representing porn actress Stormy Daniels in her legal battles against former President Donald Trump, has offered to plead guilty to "multiple" criminal charges against him in California.
It's not clear whether prosecutors, and ultimately a judge, will accept his offered plea.
Avenatti faces 36 criminal charges in California alleging that he stole millions of dollars from clients, cheated on his taxes and then lied to investigators. In a notice filed Sunday in U.S. Central District Court, he said he has tried for the past year to hammer out a plea agreement with prosecutors, to no avail.
The 51-year-old was supposed to go to trial on some of the counts in July.
Pleading guilty to some of the charges against him showed his willingness to take accountability for his actions, he argued.
"Mr. Avenatti wishes to plead in order to be accountable; accept responsibility; avoid his former clients being further burdened; save the Court and the government significant resources; and save his family further embarrassment," the filing read. It doesn't say to which of the counts he wants to plead guilty.
In a follow-up filing, prosecutors requested that the incarcerated Avenatti be transported to a change-of-plea hearing set for Thursday before U.S. District Judge James Selna at the federal courthouse in Santa Ana. Avenatti planned to represent himself in the upcoming trial, which followed a mistrial in Orange County last August.
Dean Steward, a Newport Beach-based lawyer who is advising Avenatti, did not respond to a request for comment Monday morning, and a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in the Central District of California declined comment.
Avenatti is currently at the federal prison on Terminal Island in San Pedro serving sentences for two prior convictions. Earlier this month, a New York judge sentenced Avenatti to four years in prison after he was convicted of fraud and identity theft for cheating Daniels out of nearly $300,000 in book proceeds.
He had previously been convicted in New York of trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike to stay quiet about claims about the athletic apparel giant paid high school athletes. He was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison in that case.
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