Michael Avenatti is staying in the same jail cell that once housed Mexican drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Aventatti, who is charged with attempting to extort Nike out of more than $20 million, is being held in solitary confinement in the Special Housing Unit in New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC).

In a filing late Monday night, Avenatti’s lawyer Scott Srebnick requested Avenatti be removed from solitary confinement because he is having a difficult time functioning in the freezing, moldy cell where he was denied the right to shave, prepare for his upcoming trial, and is being denied contact visits with clients.

MCC’s warden explained in a letter to U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe that Avenatti is being kept in solitary confinement for “his own safety” due to his case being high profile.

The warden made no remarks about changing Avenatti’s cell, but did say Avenatti will be permitted to keep legal documents and materials in his cell, have computer access upon request, daily social telephone calls, and legal visits. The warden said he will evaluate whether he should be placed among the general prison area.

Avenatti quickly became a celebrity and the media’s hero after representing porn star Stormy Daniels’ in multiple, unsuccessful lawsuits against President Trump. Avenatti was invited to appear in over 250 television interviews in 2018, and was the topic of numerous magazine and newspaper articles. He was even encouraged to run in the presidential campaign.

The high profile attorney is also being accused of concealing a $4 million settlement from his paraplegic client, and allegedly stealing Stormy Daniels identity to get a $300,000 advance on a book deal, and committing wire fraud.