Michael Avenatti. (Photo: David Handschuh/ALM)

The warden of Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Facility said Tuesday afternoon that Michael Avenatti was being held in a special housing unit "for his own safety," as he waits to stand trial next week on charges that the tried to extort Nike Inc.

The explanation, from warden M. Licon-Vitale, came just hours after the Manhattan federal judge overseeing Avenatti's criminal case ordered prosecutors to respond to concerns from the embattled lawyer's defense team about his living conditions in the jail, where he has been held since a California judge revoked his bail last week.

Criminal defense attorney Scott Srebnick had complained that restrictive conditions at MCC made it difficult for Avenatti to prepare his defense for trial, which is scheduled to start by Jan. 27 in the Southern District of New York.

According to Srebnick, Avenatti had been placed in solitary confinement and was under 24-hour watch in the same cell that once housed Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Avenatti's visits with attorneys happened behind a partition that did not allow him to freely review documents, and he had no access over the weekend to a computer to review discovery materials, Srebnick said.

"Under Mr. Avenatti's current conditions of confinement, we cannot effectively prepare for trial and Mr. Avenatti cannot meaningfully assist in his defense," Srebnick wrote in a letter to U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe of the Southern District of New York.

"Our principle ask is that Mr. Avenatti be moved to general population, where he has the same ability to confer with counsel as other pretrial detainees," he said.

Licon-Vitale confirmed Tuesday that Avenatti arrived at the jail after normal business hours on Friday and that his "notoriety" warranted the kind of "special administrative measures" that are typical for inmates housed in MCC's 10-South wing.

Moving forward, Licon-Vitale said, Avenatti would be allowed to keep legal documents in his cell and could review discovery materials on a computer "at his request." He would also be allowed to select a regular time to visit with his family and attorneys.

"Should Mr. Avenatti have further concerns with his conditions at MCC New York, his defense counsel can feel free to reach out to me," Licon-Vitale said.

A federal judge in California last week ordered Avenatti to be detained after he was found to have violated the terms of his release. The development, Gardephe said in a conference call, had thrown the New York case into a state of "chaos" on the eve of trial in the Nike extortion case, which had been scheduled to start Tuesday.

Trial in the case has been delayed, while prosecutors and defense counsel continue to brief a series of pretrial motions. The parties were scheduled to meet for a pretrial conference Wednesday morning in Manhattan.

Defense counsel have also said that Avenatti's pretrial detention threatened his ability to pay for for his defense, and they raised last week the possibility of starting indigency proceedings, if no funds were available.

Avenatti is charged in New York with extortion, conspiracy and honest services wire fraud related to his representation of Gary Franklin, a California-based youth basketball coach who claimed to have damaging information about alleged payments Nike made to the families of college basketball recruits.

According to the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office, Avenatti told Nike he would keep the alleged recruiting violations quiet, so long as the company agreed to settle his client's claims and pay Avenatti between $15 million and $25 million to head an internal investigation. Crucially, prosecutors said that Avenatti never told Franklin about Nike's offers to resolve the dispute without paying Avenatti or retaining him for an internal probe.

He also has been charged in a sprawling indictment in California with embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from former clients. A separate case in Manhattan also accused him of skimming money from a book deal that was being paid to his former client, adult film star Stormy Daniels, who accused President Donald Trump of engaging in an extramarital affair. Trump has categorically denied the allegation.

Avenatti has pleaded not guilty in all three cases and vigorously maintains his innocence.

Prosecutors in the Southern District of California on Jan. 15 laid out a series of fresh financial crimes they said he committed last year while awaiting trial in that district. He was arrested Jan. 14 while attending a professional disciplinary hearing at a Los Angeles courthouse and transferred to MCC on Jan. 17.

Read More:

Avenatti's Extortion Trial Delayed Following Arrest in California

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Avenatti Seeks to Exclude Evidence of Personal Finances From Nike Extortion Trial