Diddy Appeals Bail For Third Time With New High-Powered Lawyers

After already being denied bail twice in under two weeks, Diddy and his legal team are attempting to make yet another case for his release while he awaits trial.

The disgraced music mogul has been charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transportation to engage in prostitution as part of what the Justice Department is calling a “decades-long” criminal enterprise.

On September 30, Diddy and his legal team filed a notice to appeal a prior ruling that ordered that he be detained while he currently awaits trial.

In an attempt to bolster the strength of his team and increase his likelihood of possibly securing bail, Diddy added attorneys Anthony Ricco and Alexandra Shapiro to his payroll.

Ricco has built up a reputation as one of the leading experts in death penalty cases throughout his career, appearing in over a dozen death penalty-eligible cases as capital counsel.

Not to be outdone, Shapiro is highly regarded as one of the top appellate lawyers in the country, representing clients such Sam Bankman-Fried, the crypto CEO who was sentenced to 25 years behind bars for fraud.

The addition of Ricco and Shapiro brings additional expertise to a legal team that is already highly regarded, with lawyer Marc Agnifilo leading the charge.

On September 18, U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter found that Diddy posed a safety risk to the community as well as the witnesses in the case before denying him bail for a second time.

Carter ultimately agreed with prosecutors, noting that he found that “no condition or set of conditions” governing Diddy’s release could guard against the risk of him threatening or harming witnesses, which was a key charge in his case.

According to the unsealed indictment against Diddy, the Justice Department alleges that the Bad Boy Records producer used the power of his record label, clothing line, and other business interests to force his victims to cooperate with him and to keep quiet about any of the criminal behavior that he has been accused of.

Before he was ultimately denied bail, Diddy and his legal team had made what appeared to be a strong argument to allow for his release, including a $50 million bail offer, GPS monitoring, and strict limitations on visitors.

Carter determined that the efforts by Diddy and his legal team were still “insufficient” to ensure the safety of those involved in the case.

If convicted of his charges, Diddy will face a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison, with the possibility of living the rest of his life behind bars.

To add fuel to the already enormous fire, Diddy is also facing a slew of new sexual assault allegations.

On October 1, high-profile attorney Tony Buzbee revealed at a press conference that he is representing 120 new clients with allegations against the entertainment mogul including “violent sexual assault or rape, facilitated sex with a controlled substance, dissemination of video recordings, and sexual abuse of minors.”

While the new accusations have yet to be vetted by the Justice Department, it remains unclear if they will impact the result of Diddy’s new bail appeal.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter