Michael Avenatti
Michael Avenatti in 2019 Image Credit: AP

Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti, who was convicted of trying to extort millions of dollars from Nike Inc., was freed from a Manhattan jail after a two-week quarantine and will head to California to serve a 90-day home confinement, his lawyer said.

Defence attorney Dean Steward said in an email that his client was let out on Friday morning. Avenatti had asked to be released early from the New York jail as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, which can spread easily in tightly packed jails and prisons.