A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Wednesday rejected Michael Avenatti’s appeal of his conviction for extortion and honest-services fraud related to his former client’s negotiation with the sports giant Nike Inc.

Avenatti argued that the evidence was insufficient to support the guilty verdict reached by a jury in 2020. He was later sentenced to two and a half years in prison on those counts, part of an array of legal troubles for the onetime California attorney.