Michael Avenatti, the former lawyer for porn star Stormy Daniels, was released from solitary confinement, according to his lawyers.
Avenatti’s attorney Tom Warren said the convicted lawyer was transferred in mid-February from a housing unit in the Metropolitan Correctional Center to the general inmate population, CNN reported Wednesday. (RELATED: Michael Avenatti Arrested Again While At California State Bar Hearing For Another Legal Matter)
Earlier this month, Avenatti was found guilty for attempting to extort $25 million from Nike. He still has to stand trial in California for bank fraud charges.
BEVERLY HILLS, CA – OCTOBER 10: Co-founder of Eagan Avenatti, LLP, Michael Avenatti speaks onstage at Day 2 of the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit 2018 at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on October 10, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
Avenatti’s next court date is set for April 21 where he is being charged for stealing $300,000 from his former client Stormy Daniels. He was moved into a Manhattan prison and placed in solitary confinement by the government for his protection, according to The Washington Examiner.
His lawyers claim imprisonment has had a drastic effect on his health.
“The temperature in his cell feels like it is in the mid-40s,” said Avenatti defense lawyer Scott Srebnick. “He is forced to sleep with three blankets. Not surprisingly, he had been having great difficultly functioning. He has not been permitted to shave.”