NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 13: Michael Avenatti, attorney for Stormy Daniels, speaks to reporters following a court proceeding regarding the search warrants served on President Donald Trump's longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen, at the United States District Court Southern District of New York, April 13, 2018 in New York City. Cohen and his lawyers are asking the court to block Justice Department officials from reading documents and materials related to his relationship with President Donald Trump that they believe should be protected by attorney-client privilege. Officials with the FBI, armed with a search warrant, raided Cohen's office and two private residences earlier in the week. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)Attorney Michael Avenatti has been sentence to two-and-a-half years in prison for attempted extortion of Nike, according to multiple reports.
Avenatti, who gained prominence in 2018 when he represented Stormy Daniels against President Donald Trump, was convicted of extortion charges last year regarding his representation of a Los Angeles youth basketball coach Gary Franklin Sr., who had his sponsorship ended by Nike.
Avenatti was convicted of trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike by threatening bad publicity against the company. The 50-year-old lawyer threatened to accuse the company of being involved in college basketball’s “pay for play” bribery scandal.
“U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe called Avenatti’s conduct ‘outrageous,’ saying 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 Associated Press wrote on Thursday.
BREAKING: Attorney Michael Avenatti has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for attempted extortion. Avenatti was convicted of trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike by threatening the company with bad publicity. https://t.co/sGXWq1Xdg4
— The Associated Press (@AP) July 8, 2021
In addition to this extortion scheme, Avenatti was accused in 2019 of embezzling nearly $2 million from NBA center Hassan Whiteside.
All in all, a tremendous fall for a man who briefly considered running for the Democratic presidential nomination a few years ago.
