A person familiar with details of the Michael Avenatti extortion investigation tells The Associated Press that celebrity attorney Mark Geragos is a co-conspirator in the case.
Prosecutors say in court papers that an unnamed attorney joined Avenatti in demanding that Nike pay millions of dollars, or risk being embarrassed by a scandal involving its sponsorship of an amateur basketball team.
They described the attorney as a co-conspirator but didn’t charge him with a crime.
The person knowledgeable about the case tells the AP that co-conspirator was Geragos, a Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not made public by prosecutors.
Geragos’s clients have included Michael Jackson, Winona Ryder, Scott Peterson and most recently Jussie Smollett.
Geragos didn’t respond to messages seeking comment.