WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Tuesday left in place the conviction of lawyer Michael Avenatti for conspiring to extort up to $25 million from Nike.
The judges had no comment in rejecting an appeal by Avenatti, who rose to fame representing adult film actor Stormy Daniels in litigation against former President Donald Trump. The timing of the court's action, while Trump is on trial in New York over a hush money payment to Daniels, is a coincidence.
Avenatti's involvement with Nike stems from a whistleblower's allegations that the sports apparel and footwear company was paying amateur basketball players.
Avenatti's attorneys argued that the fraud statute under which he was convicted is unconstitutionally vague. They also argued that Avenatti cannot be criminally charged with conspiring to extort Nike because he was involved in settlement negotiations.
The conviction and sentence were upheld by the federal appeals court in New York.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected Avenatti's claim that there was insufficient evidence to support his February 2020 conviction on racketeering and honest services fraud charges for threatening to defame Nike in the media if They didn't pay him.
Avenatti, who lived in California, had been sentenced to two and a half years in prison in the Nike case. He was also convicted of stealing profits from Daniels' books and sentenced to 14 years in prison for stealing client settlement funds and failing to pay taxes for a coffee chain he owned.
He is scheduled to be released from prison in 2035, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh did not participate in court action Tuesday. Avenatti represented Julie Swetnick, one of the women who publicly accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct when he was nominated to the court in 2018. Kavanaugh denied the allegations.
