SCOTUS Rejects Michael Avenatti's Extortion Conviction Appeal

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Facts

• The US Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal of lawyer Michael Avenatti's conviction for plotting to extort Nike for up to $25M, leaving his conviction and sentence in place.¹
• The lawyer was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison on three extortion counts dating back to a 2019 case in which he represented a youth basketball coach who claimed that Nike made illegal payments to high school athletes.²
• In addition to allegedly pressuring Nike to pay his client, Avenatti also reportedly threatened to publicly disclose the allegations if the company didn't provide him with various kickbacks. His convictions were upheld by an appeals court before his final appeal to SCOTUS.²
• He argued that the fraud charges against him were unconstitutionally vague and that he couldn't be charged for plotting to extort Nike during settlement negotiations. SCOTUS didn't say why it rejected the appeal, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh recused himself.³
• Avenatti rose to fame by representing Stormy Daniels in her litigation against former Pres. Donald Trump and Avenatti also represented a woman who accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct against her during his 2018 nomination to the high court.⁴
• On top of his 2.5 years in this case, Avenatti was also sentenced to 14 years in prison for stealing book proceedings from Daniels and settlement funds from other clients along with his failure to pay taxes.⁵

Sources: ¹ABC News, ²NBC, ³FOX News, ⁴Newsweek and ⁵Wspa.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Courthouse News Service. Michael Avenatti is a serial convicted white-collar criminal, and now multiple federal courts have affirmed that he's guilty of trying to extort Nike for $25M. It's quite clear that he plotted to blackmail Nike by threatening to publicly divulge allegations of unlawful payments to amateur athletes. His weak arguments have been rejected, and he will now pay the time.
• Narrative B, as provided by Arizona Daily Star. While Michael Avenatti is far from a model citizen — and was a major celebrity figure in cases against Donald Trump and Bret Kavanaugh — he could be a linchpin in exposing a corrupt and exploitative system that preys on young athletes. Even if Avenatti was solely motivated by milking Nike for some benefits, his claims against the company still have merit.