A federal judge sentenced Michael Avenatti – the bruising lawyer best know for representing porn star Stormy Daniels – to two and a half years in prison for his effort to extort $22.5 million from Nike, the global apparel brand.

Last year Avenatti was found guilty of threatening to expose what he said was wrongdoing at Nike’s elite basketball programs if they didn’t give him a lucrative contract to investigate the charges. Nike’s lawyers recorded Avenatti’s attempted strong-arming and gave the tape to federal authorities.

Put Michael Avenatti in the John Edwards category of "trust your instincts"

— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 8, 2021

Avenatti was convicted of all three charges he faced: extortion, transmission of interstate communications with intent to extort, and wire fraud. 

“Mr. Avenatti had become drunk on the power of his platform,” Judge Gardephe said during Thursday’s sentencing hearing.

According to CNN, Avenatti openly wept when he addressed the court on Thursday afternoon. “I lost my way,” he admitted.

Avenatti added “all the fame, notoriety and money in the world is meaningless. TV and Twitter, your honor, mean nothing.”

it was around this time 3 years ago there were serious think-pieces arguing that Avenatti should run for president, on top of the glowing profiles and glossy magazine spreads https://t.co/U3zujb2MnH

— Grace Panetta (@grace_panetta) July 8, 2021

Avenatti became a cable news regular as he took up Daniels’ fight against then President Donald Trump, with whom she had a brief affair. The Wall Street Journal outlines Avenatti’s rapid fall from grace:

But Mr. Avenatti’s business affairs had been unraveling for years, court filings show. By early 2019, prosecutors showed at trial, Mr. Avenatti was about $11 million in debt, and a probe by the Internal Revenue Service in California had become a criminal investigation into his business and financial affairs. Prosecutors in New York and California have described a pattern of stealing from clients to enrich himself and cover mounting losses, allegations Mr. Avenatti has denied.

A separate federal indictment in Manhattan is pending against Avenatti, which alleges that he defrauded other clients, including Daniels. He is also accused of stealing $300,000 in proceeds from her book. 

A California trial against Avenatti is also pending. Prosecutors there say he ripped off a mentally ill paraplegic client, among others.