Anthony Ricco, one of several attorneys currently representing Sean “Diddy” Combs, has filed a motion requesting to withdraw as a member of the disgraced music mogul’s legal team.
The motion, filed Thursday in the Southern District of New York and obtained by TheWrap, includes a declaration in which Ricco asserts he is requesting to withdraw “as a result of discussions with lead counsel Mark Agnifilo.” Ricco’s declaration notes, “Although I have provided Sean Combs with the high level of legal representation expected by the court, under no circumstances can I continue to effectively serve as counsel for Sean Combs, consistent with the ABA Standards for Criminal Justice.”
Combs was arrested and indicted in New York in September on racketeering and sex trafficking charges. He is currently being held in federal custody at a detention center in Brooklyn. His trial is set to begin on May 5. In both his declaration and motion, Ricco insists that his withdrawal, if granted, “will not result in a delay of the present schedule for the commencement of jury selection and trial, or the present schedules for briefing of pre-trial legal issues.”
The attorney adds that Combs will continue to be represented by five attorneys on record and his withdrawal would, therefore, not result in a “lapse in representation” for the media figure.
Combs is accused of instances dating as far back as 2008 in which he allegedly assaulted, raped and trafficked women, transported people across state lines with the intent of prostituting them and used his financial and professional power to coerce and threaten men and women into participating in degrading sex acts that lasted hours and days. He is also accused of blackmailing, kidnapping and physically beating his victims in order to silence them.
His attorney’s withdrawal motion comes the same week Combs’ legal team filed to dismiss one of the sex trafficking charges against him, arguing that the origins of the law he’s accused of breaking in this instance are “racist.” In early February, Combs also filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against NBCUniversal for Peacock’s “Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy” documentary, which itself followed a $50 million defamation lawsuit he filed in January.
