Michael Avenatti, the bellicose adversary of former President Donald Trump as the lawyer for adult film star Stormy Daniels, was a regular on television news not long ago. He even contemplated running for president for a while.
On Thursday, Avenatti continued his fall into disgrace by dropping a couple more pegs.
Avenatti was sentenced to 30 months in jail by a federal judge in Manhattan for attempting to extort millions of dollars from Nike.
Prosecutors said Avenatti deserved a harsh sentence because he “sought to profit himself by weaponizing his public persona in an attempt to extort tens of millions of dollars from a publicly listed corporation.”
The sentence was increased from the six months requested by the defense, claiming that Avenatti had already suffered enough after being “openly ridiculed” by Trump.
After a two-week trial in New York City, Avenatti was found guilty by a federal jury in February 2020.
According to prosecutors, Avenatti sought to extort at least $15 million from Nike or he threatened to use his media clout to harm the company.
Daniels fired Avenatti as her counsel in early 2019 after praising the verdict last year.