WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected disgraced lawyer Michael Avenatti’s appeal of his convictions for attempted extortion from the sportswear company Nike.
The court upheld Avenatti’s convictions for extortion and fraud.
In the brief court order, the court noted that conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh had no role in the decision.
There was no explanation, but one possible reason is that Avenatti was also involved in Kavanaugh’s controversial confirmation hearing, representing one of several women who have made allegations of sexual misconduct dating back decades against the nominee. Kavanaugh denied all allegations.
Avenatti was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for the Nike extortion plot. He apologized at the sentencing, saying he was “deeply humiliated.”
The case arose in 2019 when Avenatti represented a youth basketball coach in Los Angeles who alleged that Nike made illegal payments to high school athletes. Around the same time, Avenatti faced millions of dollars in judgments and his law firm was evicted from office.
During conversations with Nike’s lawyers, Avenatti pressured the company to not only pay his client, but also to hire him and another lawyer to conduct an internal company investigation into the matter. Otherwise, he would make the allegations public, he reportedly said.
Avenatti was charged with two counts related to racketeering and one count of fraud under a federal law that targets illegal bribes by requiring people to provide “honest services.” A jury found him guilty on all three counts.
An appeals court upheld the convictions.
The Supreme Court has expressed skepticism about the scope of the honest services fraud statute in previous cases, including a ruling last year when it threw out the conviction of an aide to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Avenatti has regularly attracted headlines over the years. One of his former clients was adult film star Stormy Daniels, whom he represented in her attempt to nullify a non-disclosure agreement she had signed regarding her alleged sexual encounter with former President Donald Trump.
Trump is currently on trial over allegations that he violated New York law by making so-called hush payments to Daniels.
The Nike case is not Avenatti’s only legal problem. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison for scamming clients out of millions of dollars and to four years in prison for stealing money from Daniels. Avenatti is currently incarcerated in a federal prison in California, with a scheduled release date of August 2035.
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