Anthony Ricco is one of the three main attorneys representing disgraced rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in his federal indictment. Over three months ahead of the hip-hop mogul’s trial scheduled for May 5, 2025, the lawyer has filed a motion to back out from the sex trafficking and racketeering case.
Without elaborating on his mysterious request to be let off the case, the lawyer simply claimed that there were “sufficient reasons” to back his reasoning. “Under no circumstances can I continue to effectively serve as counsel for Sean Combs,” he wrote in a Manhattan federal court affidavit filed on Thursday, per Page Six. “It is respectfully but regrettably requested that the court grant the relief requested.”
Assuring that his impending resignation wouldn’t push back the trial date as Combs “will continue to be represented by five other attorneys of record,” Anthony Ricco affirmed that his decision came after discussions with Diddy’s lead defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo.
Is Anthony Ricco officially off Diddy’s case?
No. Ricco will be retained as one of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ lawyers until a judge greenlights the bid. Although the attorney has maintained “brevity” in his affidavit to avoid revealing any sensitive information shared between the attorneys and client, he claims to have enough reason fuelling his unprecedented move. A judge will only approve the request if there’s a sufficiently valid reason for the same.
“While I am aware that the Local Rule requires that an application for withdrawal of counsel is supported and granted ‘only upon a showing by affidavit or otherwise of satisfactory reasons for withdrawal,” he added in his motion to withdraw from the case. “There are sufficient reasons (related to the protections afforded by the lawyer/client privilege) for brevity in my application for withdrawal as counsel in this case.”
It remains unclear how long it will take the judge to make a final decision, given the recent filing.
Who is Anthony Ricco?
Like Diddy, the lawyer born and raised in Harlem, NY, has worked on a handful of high-profile American cases. According to his profile on Fordham Law University, Ricco began his professional journey as a lawyer in 1982. His private practice of law “involves federal, state criminal defense and capital defense litigation.”
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His educational background leads back to Adelphi University, where he pursued his BA in Political Science in May 1978, and Northeastern University School of Law in May 1981. He’s currently also listed as an adjunct professor of law at New York City’s top-ranked Catholic university, Fordham.
Prior to joining Diddy’s legal team, Ricco served as counsel for approximately 45 federal death penalty cases across the US. Some of his most controversial undertakings include serving as counsel in “the World Trade Bombing conspiracy case, United States v Omar Abdel Rahman; the Embassy Bombing case in 1998, United States v. Usama Bin Laden in 2001; as counsel for Detective Gescard Insnora in the Sean Bell case, People v. Michael Oliver, et al, in 2008.”
The NYC-based attorney even stepped in as capital counsel in over a dozen death-eligible cases before New York State’s death penalty was declared unconstitutional in 2004.
