Avenatti Being Held in Solitary for ‘Own Safety,’ U.S. Says (1)

Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti is being held in solitary confinement in the same New York jail cell that once housed Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman “for his own safety” as a high-profile defendant, prosecutors told a judge.

Avenatti, who gained a national profile as a critic of President Donald Trump after suing him on behalf of adult-film star Stormy Daniels, was brought to New York on Friday to face trial on charges that he tried to extort as much as $25 million from Nike Inc. The trial, originally scheduled to begin Tuesday, was postponed after Avenatti was arrested in California Jan. 14 for violating his bail in a separate case.

Since arriving in New York, Avenatti has been held in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan, in the most secure floor of the entire facility -- the notorious 10 South unit -- in the same cell where Guzman was held during his trial in Brooklyn last year.

“Due to Mr. Avenatti’s high-profile case, his notoriety, Mr. Avenatti’s placement is for his own safety,” Warden M. Licon-Vitale wrote in a letter to the judge submitted by prosecutors.

His lawyers asked that he be moved, arguing that Avenatti can’t “meaningfully assist” in his defense and “has been having great difficulty functioning” while locked up in 10 South. He is in solitary confinement 24 hours a day with no communications except for visits with his lawyers and medical exams. The temperature in his cell “feels like it is in the mid-40s,” forcing him to sleep with three blankets, and he is not allowed to shave.

Read More: Michael Avenatti Jailed on Eve of Nike Extortion Trial

The MCC has been under heavy scrutiny since financier Jeffrey Epstein killed himself in his cell at the facility last August while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. Two guards were charged with falsifying records in the wake of his death, and the warden was reassigned. Epstein was also separated from most other prisoners as a high-profile offender, though he was not in solitary at the time.

Avenatti is accused in the New York case of demanding Nike pay him as much as $25 million or he would hold a press conference announcing a basketball coach’s allegations that the company made illegal payments to top high school players. Meanwhile, federal prosecutors in California say Avenatti stole millions of dollars from clients, including a destitute paraplegic man.

His bail in the California case was revoked last week after prosecutors said Avenatti was engaging in fraudulent transactions to evade creditors. His arrest in Los Angeles threw the timing of the New York case into question.

U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe in New York ordered the parties to appear before him this week to determine how to move ahead, saying he wants the proceedings to begin no later than Jan. 27. Avenatti’s lawyers are seeking to postpone the trial indefinitely, saying they don’t know what kind of financial resources he has to fund his defense.

Prosecutors have opposed delaying the trial, pointing out that Avenatti had no assets seized pursuant to his arrest last week and his financial situation remains unchanged.

Avenatti has argued that the case against him is politically motivated and that the charges are revenge for his criticism of Trump. Prosecutors, who claim Avenatti was motivated to commit extortion because of massive personal debt, made a separate filing Monday asking the judge to bar Avenatti from even mentioning at trial Trump, Daniels, Jeffrey Epstein and and more than other dozen names or phrases they say may inflame or confuse jurors.

The case is U.S. v Avenatti, 19-cr-373, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan.)

(Updates with background on prison)

To contact the reporter on this story:
Chris Dolmetsch in Federal Court in Manhattan at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net

Anthony Lin

© 2020 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Used with permission.