2-3 minutes
A federal jury in New York convicted attorney Michael Avenatti on
charges he attempted to extort more than $20 million from Nike.
Prosecutors accused the former attorney of Stormy Daniels of threatening
to release damaging information about the company if it didn't pay $1.5
million to a client who had the information. He also said Nike must
retain him and another person for between $15 million and $25 million to
conduct an internal investigation.
Police arrested Avenatti, 48, in March hours after he tweeted about a
news conference he planned to hold to release the damaging information.
Amateur basketball coach Gary Franklin hired Avenatti to represent him,
making allegations that Nike asked him to make secret cash payments to
the families of good players, a violation of NCAA rules. He said he
wanted to stop the alleged payments and corruption.
Avenatti faces two other trials, one in Manhattan in which Daniels
accused him of stealing $300,000 from her. He pleaded not guilty to the
charges.
Avenatti represented Daniels amid a scandal in which President Donald
Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen paid her $130,000 to keep
quiet about an affair she said she had with Trump after his marriage to
Melania Trump. The scandal resulted in campaign finance convictions for
Cohen, because he made the hush-money payment in the days leading up to
the 2016 presidential election.
In another case, in Los Angeles, a federal grand jury indicted him on 36
counts of fraud, perjury, failure to pay taxes, embezzlement and other
financial crimes for allegedly stealing millions from five clients
through a group of shell companies and bank accounts.
Avenatti is scheduled to be sentenced in the Nike case on June 17.
By Danielle Haynes
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