Michael Avenatti's bad day: Disgraced lawyer to face not 1, but 2 arraignments

Embattled attorney Michael Avenatti will have a busy day in Manhattan federal court Tuesday afternoon -- but as a defendant, not as counsel.

Avenatti, 49, is scheduled to be arraigned on charges that he stole nearly $300,000 from adult film actress Stormy Daniels, the client who rocketed him to national prominence. Approximately three-and-a-half hours later, Avenatti is scheduled to be arraigned on charges that he tried to extort up to $25 million from athletic apparel giant Nike by threatening to expose claims that the shoemaker paid off high school basketball players to steer them to Nike-sponsored colleges.

In the Nike case, Avenatti is charged with one count of extortion, one count of sending interstate communications with intent to extort and two counts of conspiracy. In the Stormy Daniels case, he is charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. If convicted on all counts, Avenatti could face a total of 69 years in prison.


Avenatti repeatedly has denied any wrongdoing and is expected to plead not guilty to all charges. He initially was arrested on March 25 at a New York law firm where he had scheduled a meeting with Nike executives.

Six days earlier, prosecutors said, Avenatti and a co-conspirator identified by several news outlets as celebrity attorney Mark Geragos met with attorneys for Nike on March 19 and "threatened to release damaging information" if the company did not agree to make multi-million dollar payments to them, as well as an additional $1.5 million payment to a California youth basketball coach Avenatti claimed to represent.