Michael Avenatti is having a different kind of 2020 than he once teased.
Avenatti, who represented porn star Stormy Daniels in her case against President Trump and once mulled a 2020 presidential run, has been found guilty of trying to extort Nike, CNBC reports. A jury on Friday convicted Avenatti on all three counts: attempted extortion, honest-services fraud, and the transmission of interstate communications with the intent to extort, per Axios.
Prosecutors in March 2019 announced Avenatti had been charged after he allegedly demanded Nike pay him up to $25 million or he would hold a press conference revealing damaging information about the company. During the trial, prosecutors played a tape of Avenatti speaking to Nike representatives and threatening to "blow the lid," with Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky saying, "This is what extortion sounds like," NBC News reports. Avenatti pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers said he was acting "in good faith" on behalf of the youth basketball coach he was representing.
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This isn't the end of the road for Avenatti, as CNN notes he's also facing two other trials for allegedly stealing Daniels' book advance as well as, in California, allegedly defrauding several clients out of millions of dollars. According to NBC News, both of those cases are set to go to trial this spring.
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