Attorney Mark Geragos to defend heiress in ‘sex slave’ case

NEW YORK (AP) — A high-profile lawyer linked to the Michael Avenatti extortion case has been cleared to represent a wealthy heiress charged in a sex-trafficking investigation.

Clare Bronfman told a judge on Thursday that she wanted Mark Geragos to defend against charges she was involved with a self-help group that kept sex slaves who were branded with the initials of a spiritual leader.

The judge let Geragos into the case after Bronfman assured him she wasn’t bothered by reports that the attorney was an unidentified co-conspirator in an alleged shakedown of Nike. Geragos wouldn’t comment as he left court.

Avenatti is the attorney best known for representing porn actress Stormy Daniels. He’s denied extortion charges announced earlier this week.

Geragos’ clients have included Michael Jackson, Colin Kaepernick and Jussie Smollett.

___

This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Avenatti.

___

This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Geragos in the third paragraph.