Prosecutors in Michael Avenatti’s extortion case will be allowed to tell a jury about some of the millions of dollars in debts that the embattled attorney owed at the time of his alleged shakedown of Nike Inc., a Manhattan federal judge ruled Wednesday.

The ruling, from U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe of the Southern District of New York, came during a nearly five-hour hearing, as attorneys argued over what evidence they’d be able to present to a jury during the trial’s opening arguments next week.