US celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti jailed for Nike extortion attempt
- Michael Avenatti tried to extort up to US$25 million from Nike by threatening company with bad publicity
- The brash lawyer also faces a fraud trial in California and embezzlement charges in New York
US District Judge Paul Gardephe in Manhattan said Avenatti, 50, “had become drunk on the power of his platform” in betraying his client, a youth basketball coach for his own gain.
“Mr Avenatti’s conduct was outrageous,” Gardephe said. “He hijacked his client’s claims, and he used those claims to further his own agenda, which was to extort millions of dollars from Nike for himself.”
The sentencing caps a precipitous downfall for a once-obscure lawyer who in 2018 became a cable news fixture, disparaging then-President Trump and even flirting with his own White House run.
Avenatti still faces three other criminal fraud trials, including for defrauding Daniels.
In the Nike case, Avenatti was convicted for threatening to expose the sportswear company’s alleged corrupt payments to families of college basketball prospects, unless it paid up to US$25 million for him and another lawyer to conduct a probe.