If convicted of all charges, Michael Avenatti could face up to 97 years in prison.
Avenatti, 48, was indicted in April and his attorney, Dean Steward, argued that he would not have time to review evidence for the trial until June. In court Monday, U.S. District Judge James Selna set a May 19, 2020, trial date and rejected Avenatti’s request to access computers from his former law firm that he had turned over to a bankruptcy receiver, who was complying with a search warrant from a federal investigator.
Avenatti is accused of embezzling from a client’s $1.6-million legal settlement to cover personal expenses and buttress his troubled coffee business. Prosecutors are also accusing Avenatti of bank fraud, alleging that he gave a Mississippi bank fictitious personal tax returns to secure more than $4 million in business loans.
In New York, prosecutors alleged he tried to extort $25 million from Nike by threatening to expose alleged payments by the shoe company in the recruitment of college basketball players.City News Service contributed to this report.
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