Michael Avenatti sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for extortion

The lawyer was convicted of trying to extort millions of dollars from US company Nike ‘to further his own agenda’.

Michael Avenatti, the brash lawyer who shot to fame representing porn actress Stormy Daniels in lawsuits against Donald Trump before a swirl of criminal charges ended his legal career, was sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison on Thursday for trying to extort Nike. US District Judge Paul Gardephe in Manhattan said Avenatti, 50, “had become drunk on the power of his platform” in betraying his client, a youth basketball coach, for his own gain. “Mr. Avenatti’s conduct was outrageous,” Gardephe said. “He hijacked his client’s claims, and he used those claims to further his own agenda, which was to extort millions of dollars from Nike for himself.”