Federal authorities moved Los Angeles attorney Michael Avenatti to New York on Friday ahead of a trial later this month on charges that he tried to extort more than $20 million from sports giant Nike, his attorney said. U.S. marshals transported Avenatti by private jet, and he’s at Metropolitan Correction Center awaiting classification, attorney H. Dean Steward said Saturday. Avenatti was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon at a California State Bar Court hearing. After the Nike case concludes, he will face a second federal trial in New York on charges that he stole from Daniels by skimming money from her deal to write a memoir detailing her alleged affair with President Trump. After that, Avenatti is to be tried in Santa Ana federal court on the most sweeping of the three cases.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 18, 2020 23:48 UTC