Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti, who rose to fame as Stormy Daniels’ lawyer and then became a criminal defendant, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for attempting to extort millions of dollars from Nike, CNN reports.
Avenatti was convicted in February 2020 of three counts for threatening to publicly accuse the sportswear company of illicitly paying amateur basketball players unless Nike paid him.
“Mr. Avenatti’s conduct was outrageous,” US District Judge Paul Gardephe said during sentencing. “Mr. Avenatti had become drunk on the power of his platform, or what he perceived his platform to be.”
Addressing the court Thursday, Avenatti, who’s 50, openly wept, choking up at several points and pausing in his remarks before continuing. Referring to the two platforms that fueled his rise to fame, he told the judge that “TV and Twitter, your honor, mean nothing.”
“I betrayed my own values, my friends, my family and myself,” he said. “I, and I alone, have destroyed my career, my relationships, my life.”
As noted by CNN, Nike’s lawyers had approached prosecutors about what they believed was Avenatti’s attempt to extort their client. The FBI secretly recorded subsequent conversations between Avenatti and the Nike lawyers before the indictment.
