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The high-profile criminal defense attorney who has represented celebrities such as Jussie Smollett and Colin Kaepernick has been named co-conspirator in the extortion charges against Michael Avenatti, according to the Wall Street Journal.
What fees? Avenatti has been accused of attempting to extort more than $ 20 million from Nike. In another case, Avenatti was also charged with wire fraud and bank fraud for diverting money from a client to cover his own debts.
Avenatti is accused of telling Nike that he and an anonymous co-conspirator (apparently Geragos) would disclose damaging information about Nike if the company did not pay them millions.
From WSJ:
Mr. Avenatti said that if his demands were not satisfied, "I will delete ten billion dollars from your customer's market capitalization … I'm not aware."
How did it happen? Avenatti and Geragos reportedly met Nike's lawyers on March 19 and threatened extortion at the meeting. The criminal complaint says that Avenatti and Geragos have asked for millions of dollars for themselves and $ 1.5 million to an alleged client of Avenatti.
Learn more about géragos: Geragos represented the actor "Empire" Jussie Smollett, accused of 16 counts of allegedly inventing a hateful hoax committed by people who he believed were Trump supporters and who had lied to the police
In another of Geragos' most publicized cases, the lawyer represented former NFL quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, in his grievance against the NFL. Kaepernick, who recently signed a deal with the league, said the NFL owners and commissioner had conspired to blackball him in retaliation for Kaepernick's protests during the national anthem.
Geragos was briefly a lawyer for Michael Jackson in the 2003 pop singer molestation case, which resurfaced in public discussion due to the release of the documentary "Leaving Neverland".
Geragos served as a legal analyst for CNN, although the network said Monday that he was no longer a contributor.
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