WASHINGTON, May 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court

declined on Tuesday to hear a bid by imprisoned celebrity lawyer

Michael Avenatti to overturn his conviction for defrauding a

client and extorting athletic wear company Nike ( NKE ).

The justices turned away Avenatti's appeal after a lower

court upheld his 2020 convictions.

In another trial, Avenatti in 2022 was convicted of

defrauding a separate client, porn star Stormy Daniels. That

case was not at issue in the current appeal.

At the center of the Nike ( NKE )-related case was a threat, caught

on an audio recording, that Avenatti made in 2019 to stain the

athletic wear company's reputation and hurt its stock price by

exposing its alleged corrupt payments to families of college

basketball prospects. Avenatti was heard threatening to "blow

the lid" on Nike ( NKE ) at a press conference unless it paid up to $25

million for him to conduct a probe, plus $1.5 million to his

client, youth basketball coach Gary Franklin.

Prosecutors said Avenatti was looking to enrich himself and

pay down heavy debts tied to his law firm and a recent divorce.

He was convicted of extorting Nike ( NKE ) and of committing "honest

services fraud" against Franklin, in which someone in a position

of authority deprives a client or constituent of his right to

honest services. Avenatti was handed a 2-1/2 year prison

sentence.

For his part, Franklin testified that he did not want an

investigation and merely wanted Nike ( NKE ) to resume sponsoring his

team.

Nike ( NKE ) has denied wrongdoing.

The Manhattan-based U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in

August 2023 rejected Avenatti's appeal of his convictions,

prompting his appeal to the Supreme Court.

Avenatti's lawyers in a Supreme Court filing argued that the

1988 statute criminalizing honest services fraud is so vague

that it violates the right of defendants to due process under

the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment. They also urged the

justices to take up the case to declare that settlement

negotiations like Avenatti's communications with Nike ( NKE ) cannot

give rise to criminal extortion charges.

President Joe Biden's administration recommended that the

justices decline Avenatti's appeal.

Avenatti, 53, gained fame in 2018 while representing Daniels

in litigation against then-U.S. President Donald Trump. He was

convicted of defrauding Daniels out of a book contract and was

sentenced in June 2022 to an additional 2-1/2 years behind bars.

The 2nd Circuit upheld that conviction in March.

An attorney for Avenatti did not respond when asked if he

would be appealing his conviction involving Daniels to the

Supreme Court. Hush money paid to Daniels ahead of the 2016 U.S.

election is at the heart of Trump's criminal trial in a New York

state court.

In December 2022, Avenatti was sentenced to 14 more years in

prison after he pleaded guilty to cheating four other clients,

including a paraplegic man, out of millions of dollars.