Devlin BarrettVerifizierter Account

Avenatti is crying, thanking his family for standing by him. "I and I alone have destroyed my career, my relationships, my life, and there is no doubt that I deserve to pay, have paid, and will pay a further price for what I have done."

The judge has already said he calculates the sentencing guidelines for Avenatti at somewhere between 9 and 11 years. The judge is now recounting the factual history of the Nike shakedown

Usually not a great sign for a defendant when a federal judge keeps quoting him saying "I'm not fucking around."

Judge: "Mr. Avenatti’s conduct was outrageous. He hijacked his clients' claims and he used those claims to further his own agenda which was to extort millions of dollars from Nike for himself.”

“Mr Avenatti," the judge continued, "had become drunk on the power of his platform or what he perceived the power of his platform to be. He had become someone who operated as if the laws and rules which apply to everyone else didn’t apply to him.”

Judge hammers lawyer Mark Geragos, and implicitly rebukes Justice Dept for not charging him. Geragos, the judge said, "suffered no consequences as a result of his conduct and he was a central figure in the criminal conduct."

Wow. Judge drastically departs downwardly to give Avenatti about three years in prison on this case, saying “It would not be justice for Mr. Avenatti to be sentenced to a 9 to 11 year term of imprisonment when Mr. Geragos was not even charged.”

A potential 9 year prison sentence for Avenatti was reduced to 2.5 - the kind of sentencing break usually reserved for those who flip and provide evidence against others. Judge clearly greatly displeased that Geragos walked away from the case scot-free...