Michael Avenatti, former opponent of President Trump, has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for a Nike blackmail scheme

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Avenatti once represented Stormy Daniels and regularly attacked Trump.

July 8, 2021, 7:56 pm

• 4 minutes to read

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Not too long ago, Michael Avenatti was a fixture in satellite news, and the belligerent nemesis of former President Donald Trump as a lawyer for top movie actress Stormy Daniels. He even briefly considered running for president.

On Thursday, Avenatti dropped a few more pegs as he descended into notoriety.

A federal judge in Manhattan has sentenced Avenatti to 30 months in prison for attempting to extort millions of dollars from Nike.

“Michael Avenatti used illegal threats, extortion and betrayal of one of his clients with the aim of obtaining millions of dollars for himself,” Manhattan Attorney General Audrey Strauss said in a statement about the ruling. “Not only did Avenatti attempt to weaponize his legal license and fame to seek extortion payments for himself, but he also defrauded his client. Avenatti will now serve a lengthy prison term for his criminal behavior.”

Prosecutors said Avenatti deserved a large sentence after he “sought to enrich himself by weaponizing his public image in an attempt to extort tens of millions of dollars from a publicly traded company”.

“While the defendant may have attempted to hide behind legal terms, a suit and a tie, the jury clearly saw the defendant’s scheme for what it was – old-fashioned extortion” at the time of his conviction, US Attorney for the Southern District Jeffrey Berman said in a statement.

The sentence exceeded the six months requested by the defense, saying Avenatti had “publicly mocked” Trump and had suffered enough.

Attorney Michael Avenatti arrives for sentencing hearing in an extortion scheme against Nike, in US District Court in Manhattan, New York City, July 8, 2021.

Avenatti was convicted by a federal jury in February 2020 after a two-week trial in New York City.

Trump once tweeted, sarcastically, “What a nice guy! Presidential aspirations you know!” About Avenatti after his bail request was denied in March 2020 while he awaited sentencing.

Avenatti attempted to extort at least $15 million from Nike or otherwise threatened to use his media influence to damage the brand, according to prosecutors.

He faces separate charges in New York for allegedly stealing a book submitted by Daniels and in California to defraud other clients.

Daniels, who praised the conviction last year, fired Avenatti as her attorney in early 2019.

Aaron Katersky reports for ABC News:

ABC News’ Mark Osborne contributed to this report.

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