Facing the potential of life in prison on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, Sean Combs hired a high-profile team of defense lawyers for his criminal trial in New York.
With a combined 150 years of legal experience, Combs’ team of lawyers have defended everyone from alleged United Healthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione to disgraced financier Martin Shrkeli and rapper Young Thug.
“In looking at the team, especially on the first day of jury selection, it seems like they’ve got people who are experts in their own kind of general areas,” said ABC News Legal Contributor Brian Buckmire. “I think the team that Diddy has put together are some heavy hitters in their own rights, and they’re working together as such.”
Combs, a self-proclaimed “Bad Boy for Life”, was charged last year with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and prostitution after prosecutors accused the rap mogul of using violence to coerce women into sex, protect his business empire, and preserve his reputation as one of hip-hop’s most important figures. If convicted, he faces the possibility of life in prison.
Combs has pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations against him, and his lawyers are expected to argue that any of the alleged sexual activity was done by consenting adults. He rejected a plea deal last week.
With an estimated billion-dollar fortune helping support his legal defense, Combs is relying on his high-powered army of attorneys to defend him in court and convince a jury to spare him a lengthy prison sentence.
Marc Agnifilo
Experienced defense attorney Marc Agnifilo is leading Combs’ defense team, bringing with him experience defending NXIVM leader Keith Raniere, “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli and Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng.
Raniere was convicted for creating what prosecutors described as a sex cult in which female members were branded with his initials and kept in line through blackmail and sentenced to 120 years in prison. Shkreli was sentenced to seven years in person for securities fraud and conspiracy, while Ng was sentenced to 10 years in person for his alleged role in a money laundering and bribery scheme including paying more than $1.6 billion in bridges to dozens of government officials.
Agnifilo also has experience working as a federal and state prosecutor and boasts having tried more than 200 cases over his three-decade legal career.
Agnifilo is also one half of a legal power couple with his wife Karen Friedman Agnifilo, a former prosecutor who investigated the Trump Organization while with the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Since leaving government service, her most high-profile client has been Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year.
Teny Geragos
Teny Geragos is a founding partner at New York-based law firm Agnifilo Intrater, and also defended Raniere and Shkreli. She graduated from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles in 2016.
Geragos is also the daughter of famed defense attorney Mark Geragos, whose clients include Hunter Biden, Chris Brown and Michael Jackson. While Mark Geragos is not representing Combs, his appearance in court during jury selection sparked criticism from prosecutors due to his past public statements about the case on his podcast. Federal prosecutors asked the judge to remind Mark Geragos about court policies that forbid statements outside court that could interfere with a fair trial.
Mark Geragos is also involved in a simultaneous high-profile case — arguing for the release of Erik and Lyle Menendez 35 years after the pair was convicted of killing their parents.
Alexandra Shapiro
Alexandra Shapiro brings over 30 years of appellate experience to Combs’ legal team, having served as the deputy chief of appeals for the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan and an attorney-adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice.
She represented Sam Bankman-Fried in the failed appeal of his criminal conviction and scored a series of legal victories at the United States Supreme Court. She also clerked for the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — a job she shares with the judge overseeing Combs’ case, though the two did not overlap.
Brian Steel
Atlanta-based attorney Brian Steel joined Combs’ legal team last month after gaining national attention defending rapper Young Thug.
After the longest criminal trial in Georgia history, Young Thug pleaded guilty to gun, drug and gang charges but was spared a lengthy prison sentence. Steel was briefly sent to jail during the trial after the judge overseeing the case held him in contempt for refusing to provide the judge information about what he learned of a meeting between prosecutors, a witness and the judge himself. The contempt ruling was later overturned.
Xavier Donaldson
Xavier Donaldson, a New York-based criminal defense attorney, joined Combs’ legal team on the eve of trial. He has nearly three decades of criminal defense experience and worked as a former prosecutor in the Bronx.
Anna Estevao
Anna Estevao is a partner at New York law firm Sher Tremonte LLP. She graduated from New York University School of Law and briefly worked as a federal defender in California, according to her Linkedin profile.
Jason Driscoll
Jason Driscoll is an associate at Shapiro’s law firm and one of the most junior members of Combs’ defense team. He graduated from New York University School of Law and completed two deferral clerkships.
Linda Moreno
Linda Moreno is a high-profile legal consultant who joined Combs’ legal team to help with jury selection. Her law firm’s website describes her an expert on anti-Muslim bias, including representing Sami Amin Al-Arian after he was indicted under the Patriot Act for allegedly playing a leadership role in the terrorist group Palestinian Jihad. He was acquitted on most charges and pleaded guilty to lesser charges.
She also was on the legal team that secured an acquittal for Noor Salman, the wife of the Pulse nightclub shooter who was accused of lying to the FBI and helping her husband.
Moreno is no stranger to celebrity trials having worked on the legal team defending American actor Wesley Snipes in his criminal trial for failing to file tax returns. Snipes was convicted on three misdemeanor charges but acquitted on the more serious felony charges.
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