On Friday, former lawyer to porn star Stormy Daniels was found guilty for trying to extort $25 million from athleticwear company Nike. A Manhattan U.S. District Court jury made the decision after a three-week trial.
Avenatti was arrested in March, about 15 minutes after tweeting that he had scheduled a press conference to “disclose a major high school/college basketball scandal perpetrated by [Nike].”
According to prosecutors, Avenatti demanded that Nike pay his client $1.5 million and pay an unidentified co-conspirator $15-25 million to conduct an “internal investigation” for Nike. During the time of Avenatti’s extortion scheme, he had $11 million in debt.
Donald Trump Jr. tweeted a video of the media supporting Avenatti, with the comment, “Media + Michael Avenatti = ❤ #ValentinesDay #Avenatti #basta.”