Michael Avenatti’s appeal was denied by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on August 30, 2023, in a serious legal defeat.
The court affirmed Avenatti’s convictions for wire fraud for honest services, attempted Hobbs Act extortion, and conveying extortionate messages in interstate commerce.
In addition, the court upheld Nike, a major sportswear brand, receiving a $259,800.50 restitution amount. After his arrest in the Nike case in March 2019, Avenatti’s career was completely devastated. He was given a two-and-a-half-year prison term after being found guilty.
Gary Franklin, a coach for youth sports in Los Angeles, was represented by Avenatti during discussions with Nike. Avenatti’s threats to harm Nike’s brand and finances if they did not pay him millions of dollars were the central theme of the lawsuit.
He was also charged with planning to deny Franklin honest legal representation by making a settlement with Franklin contingent on his acceptance of a multimillion-dollar bribe.
Avenatti contested whether the evidence used to support each count of his conviction was sufficient throughout the appeal. He also questioned the legitimacy of the restitution order and the trial court’s refusal to give the jury the jury instruction on honest-services fraud that he had requested.
The appellate court, however, determined that none of these arguments were valid and upheld the verdict.
Avenatti’s demand that Nike hire him to conduct an internal probe into basketball corruption and pay his client a civil settlement were significant turning points in the case. If his requests were not met, Avenatti additionally threatened to convene a news conference and to have an article published in the New York Times.
After meeting with him, Nike’s representatives, who were frightened by Avenatti’s confrontational demeanor, got in touch with federal prosecutors, which resulted in his detention.
According to court records, Avenatti’s financial status was fragile at the time of the offenses. He was still facing nearly $11 million in unpaid judgments.
Avenatti, who once attracted national recognition for defending adult film actress Stormy Daniels in her legal disputes with former President Donald Trump, has suffered a significant loss due to the court’s decision to uphold the convictions and the reparation award.
