BY: Walker
Published 10 hours ago
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ legal team has lost a member ahead of his sex trafficking trial. One of his attorneys, Anthony Ricco, stepped down from the case and provided a cryptic statement.
In a motion for withdraw of counsel filed in New York on Thursday, Ricco said ‘under no circumstances can I continue to effectively serve as counsel for Sean Combs’.
The notice added that discussions had been had with lead counsel Marc Agnifilo and Ricco before the motion was filed.
Ricco said that he would be providing no details to support the application, adding that government prosecutors had been notified and didn’t take a stance.
He said him standing down would not result in a delay to the current schedule, with Combs set to stand trial in May.
Combs still has the same lead counsel he has had since his homes in LA and Miami were raided last year, Agnifilo and Teny Geragos.
DailyMail.com has approached Ricco for comment.
Combs, 55, remains locked up at Brooklyn’s infamous Metropolitan Detention Center in New York after he was arrested in September of last year.
He was federally charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution on September 17.
The rapper has been accused of arranging ‘Freak Offs,’ described as ‘elaborate and produced sex performances’.
Prosecutors say he arranged and directed these ‘performances’ while he masturbated and often recorded them.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges alleging he coerced and abused women for years, aided by associates and employees.
Prosecutors say he also silenced victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
On top of his impending trial, he is facing dozens of lawsuits from individuals who say were harmed and exploited by him.
His legal team, through Combs, have repeatedly denied these individual suits, disregarding them as attempts for a ‘quick payday’.
If convicted, he is facing the possibility of life behind bars on the racketeering charge and a minimum of 15 years for sex trafficking.
Prosecutors said Combs used the ‘power and prestige’ he wielded as a music mogul to intimidate, threaten and lure women into his orbit, often under the pretense of a romantic relationship.
via: Daily Mail
