Michael Avenatti sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for Nike extortion scheme
CBSN
Michael Avenatti, the lawyer who became famous for representing adult film star Stormy Daniels and publicly sparring with then-President Donald Trump, was sentenced in New York Thursday to 30 months in prison for trying to extort millions of dollars from Nike.
Avenatti, 50, was convicted last year on charges that he tried to extort up to $25 million from the sportswear giant as he represented a Los Angeles youth basketball league organizer upset Nike had ended its league sponsorship. "Mr. Avenatti's conduct was outrageous. He hijacked his clients' claims and he used those claims to further his own agenda which was to extort millions of dollars from Nike for himself," U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe said Thursday when handing down the sentence, according to the Washington Post's Devlin Barrett.Washington — The Supreme Court on Friday said it will consider the constitutionality of the Federal Communications Commission's Universal Service Fund, agreeing to review a lower court decision that upended the mechanism for funding programs that provide communications services to rural areas, low-income communities and schools, libraries and hospitals.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launched six space tourists on a high-speed dash to the edge of space and back Friday, giving the passengers — including a husband and wife making their second flight — about three minutes of weightlessness and an out-of-this world view before the capsule made a parachute descent to touchdown at the company's west Texas flight facility.