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Report: Shortly after announcing CBB scandal presser, attorney Michael Avenatti charged with extortion
Published:
Perhaps that press conference regarding a major college basketball scandal involving Nike and some of the top names in the sport won’t be coming on Tuesday after all.
On Monday, Michael Avenatti announced via Twitter that he would hold a Tuesday morning press conference to announce a major college basketball scandal that included high-ranking officials with Nike and some of the top names in the sport. But shortly after that tweet, Avenatti was reportedly charged with extortion.
According to the report from Steven Portnoy of CBS News, Avenatti alleged tried to extort Nike by threatening to release “damaging [information] about the company if Nike didn’t agree to pay millions to him and a client.”
More from Portnoy, he tweeted out details of the charges on Monday afternoon:
JUST IN: Federal prosecutors announce charges against @MichaelAvenatti, alleging he tried to extort Nike, threatening to release damaging about the company, if Nike didn't agree to pay millions to him and a client.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) March 25, 2019
The complaint alleges Avenatti said he'd refrain from holding a press conference, if Nike paid his client $1.5 million & agreed to "retain" him to conduct an "internal investigation," for which he and a co-conspirator would be paid "at a minimum, between $15 and $25 million."
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) March 25, 2019
College basketball has been under a microscope recently, with scandal running rampant across the sport. Now, it appears to have gone one step further.
This isn’t exactly the kind of madness that we all expected in March.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB