Stormy Daniels, Michael Avenatti, Donald Trump

Michael Avenatti was convicted by a jury on charges that he cheated porn actor Stormy Daniels out of nearly $300,000 she was supposed to get for writing a book about an alleged affair with former president Donald Trump.

The verdict was returned Friday at a federal court in New York.

The result was the culmination of an unusual trial in which Avenatti acted as his own lawyer and got to cross-examine Daniels about her belief in ghosts.

Avenatti still faces other legal problems.

He has yet to begin serving a 2 1/2 year prison sentence he received in 2020 for trying to extort up to $25 million from sportswear giant Nike.

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