A lawyer in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex-trafficking case requested to step down from the legal battle Friday.
Anthony Ricco and Combs’ legal team submitted a motion for the attorney to be removed from the rapper’s counsel less than three months before the trial is set to take place.
“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,” Ricco wrote in the motion obtained by Fox News Digital.
The attorney noted there were “sufficient reasons” for the “brevity” of his withdrawal that are related to “protections afforded by the attorney/client privilege.”
JAY-Z, SEAN ‘DIDDY’ COMBS SEXUAL ASSAULT ACCUSER DROPS LAWSUIT
Ricco’s departure from the case does not impact Combs’ legal team, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital. The team remains “intact and fully engaged.”
“This motion for withdrawal of counsel, 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,” Ricco added in the legal document. “As a result, there will be no lapse in representation, as Sean Combs will continue to be represented by five other attorneys of record.”
The request must be approved by Judge Arun Subramanian.
Combs’ trial is set to begin May 5.
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
The prosecution expects the government’s case to take three weeks to lay out, while Combs’ legal team estimated needing one week to argue the rapper’s defense.
A superseding indictment has been filed against Combs, which prosecutors previously said could lengthen the trial.
Prosecutors filed the superseding indictment on Jan. 30, adding new details to the public record but no new charges. The new indictment, obtained by Fox News Digital, claimed the racketeering conspiracy actually began in 2004 and ran until 2024. Two additional victims were also added, although they remain anonymous as “Victim-1,” “Victim-2” and “Victim-3.”
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
Combs was originally charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution in an indictment unsealed on Sept. 17. If found guilty, he faces a minimum of 15 years behind bars or a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Authorities alleged Combs ran a criminal enterprise through his businesses, including Bad Boy Entertainment, Combs Enterprises and Combs Global, among others. He used “firearms, threats of violence, coercion, and verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse” to fulfill his sexual desires, according to the unsealed indictment obtained by Fox News Digital.
WATCH: SEAN ‘DIDDY’ COMBS DEFENSE TEAM’S ONLY HOPE IS TO MAKE SEX ACTS APPEAR CONSENSUAL, FORMER PROSECUTOR SAYS
Combs and his employees would “intimidate, threaten, and lure female victims into the rapper’s orbit, often under the pretense of a romantic relationship. Combs allegedly then used force, threats of force, and coercion, to cause victims to engage in extended sex acts with male commercial sex workers that Combs referred to as, among other things, ‘Freak Offs.'”
Lawyers for Combs denied the allegations and have maintained the rapper is innocent.
