[Avenatti is]charged with one count of conspiracy to transmit interstate communications with intent to extort, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, one count of transmission of interstate communications with intent to extort, which carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison, and one count of extortion, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
In the Nike scheme, Avenatti was allegedly aided by an unnamed co-conspirator (CC-1) who is "an attorney licensed in California who's known for his representation of celebrity and public figure clients." Multiple news sources say this refers to Mark Geragos.
CC-1 has not been charged. Is he just an uncharged co-conspirator or a "co-operating co-conspirator"? It sounds to me like the latter.
How it unfolded: Nike's lawyers went to the U.S. Attorneys office after Avenatti and CC-1 made their demand to be paid $25 million in legal fees to conduct an internal investigation of Nike that Nike hadn't requested.
The Nike lawyers, at the direction of law enforcement, recorded Avenatti and CC-1 both in person and on the phone. From the Affidavit in support of the Complaint, it's not clear to me whether CC-1 was acting as Avenatti's lawyer during Avenatti's negotiations or his partner. Either way, the recorded conversations appear to support charging both. But CC-1 has not been charged. From the press release:
On March 21, 2019, at the direction of law enforcement, representatives of Nike met again with AVENATTI and CC-1. During the meeting, AVENATTI reiterated his demand for a $1.5 million payment for his client and, with respect to his demand to be retained for an internal investigation, AVENATTI stated, in substance and in part, that he and CC-1 would require a $12 million retainer to be paid immediately and to be “deemed earned when paid,” with a minimum guarantee of $15 million in billings and a maximum fee of $25 million, “unless the scope changes.”
According to CNN,
Avenatti was arrested this morning outside of the offices of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP in Manhattan, according to a source. A Nike lawyer, who cooperated with the investigation and is referred to as "Attorney-1" in in the charges, is Boies Schiller Flexner LLP partner Scott Wilson, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Avenatti's charges in LA pertaining to him allegedly taking $1.6 million of a client's funds in his trust account and using them for his own ends. He allegedly gave the client $130,000 (of the client's own money) to him as an advance.
