A Manhattan federal court judge has indefinitely postponed the trial of Michael Avenatti on charges he attempted to shakedown Nike for more than $20 million.
The ruling by Judge Paul Gardephe follows an earlier decision by a California judge to revoke Avenatti’s bail, after West Coast prosecutors unsealed new charges claiming he’d violated the terms of his release while awaiting three separate trials for extortion and embezzlement.
Prosecutors revealed Wednesday that Avenatti pocketed $1 million in legal fees while under indictment, and then tried to hide the funds from debt collectors by shuffling the money through various bank accoun♛ts.
The 48-year-old lawye🉐r was scheduled to stand trial in New York next week for allegedly trying to blackmail Nike into paying him upwards of $20 million to keep him from holding a press conference. Avenatti says he was simply advocating for a client, while the government alleges he planned to keep the money to cover😼 his own $15 million debt.
Avenatti, who is now in the custody of the US Marshals Service, ꦯis expected to appear in Manhattan court Jan. 21.