Sean 'Diddy' Combs' attorney steps down amid high-profile case
Anthony Ricco, an attorney for Sean "Diddy" Combs, has filed a move to leave the mogul's legal team.
Sean 'Diddy' Combs.
In a petition in the Southern District of New York, Ricco did not include an affidavit or proof for why he could not continue in the case, only a brief declaration that he would no longer be able to "effectively serve."
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"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," the letter reads.
Ricco points out that his decision to resign from representing Combs will not cause the trial to be delayed, which is presently slated to begin in May. Combs would still be represented by five other attorneys, including Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos.
Combs was accused in September and charged with sex trafficking and racketeering for allegedly running a huge criminal operation through which he raped and trafficked women using his numerous enterprises since at least 2008. Combs has pleaded not guilty to the accusations and is being held in a Brooklyn prison pending trial.
On Tuesday, Combs' attorneys submitted a petition to dismiss one of the sex trafficking allegations against him. The charge, which violates the Mann Act, bans transferring someone over state boundaries for prostitution. In this instance, the government claims Combs violated it by moving male escorts over state borders to have sex with his women.
However, attorneys said that it was a lawful male escort firm and that the law's roots were discriminatory. The Mann Act, formerly known as the White-Slave Traffic Act, was passed in 1910. Combs' attorneys contended that the law's historical intent has been to "target Black men and supposedly protect white women from them," as it was utilized in the prosecutions of boxing champion Jack Johnson and Chuck Berry.
"This case is unprecedented in many ways, but perhaps most notably, and most disturbingly, no white person has ever been the target of a remotely similar prosecution. Sean Combs is an extraordinarily successful artist, businessman, philanthropist and one of the most accomplished black people in this country," the filing reads.
