Judge rejects Michael Avenatti's bid to dismiss criminal charge in Nike case
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/09/michael-avenatti-nike-extortion-case-trial
A US judge on Thursday rejected the celebrity lawyer Michael Avenattis bid to dismiss a criminal charge that he defrauded a client whom he said knew about improper payments that sportswear giant Nike allegedly made to families of college basketball recruits.
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Prosecutors accused Avenatti of telling Nike last March he would not publicize his client Gary Franklins claims about the payments if the sportswear company would pay Franklin $1.5m, and him up to $25m to conduct an internal inquiry.
They said Avenatti also failed to tell Franklin, who coached a youth basketball team in a Nike-sponsored league, that Nike offered to settle the coachs claims without paying Avenatti, and instead used those claims to secure riches for himself.
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Avenatti also faces an 21 April trial in Manhattan for allegedly cheating Daniels out of proceeds from a book contract, and a 19 May trial in Santa Ana, California, for allegedly defrauding other clients and lying to the Internal Revenue Service.
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I'm starting to think he's not going to get many votes in Iowa.