Was Anthony Ricco a defense attorney for Osama Bin Laden? Lawyer's career explored in the wake of recusal from Diddy's case
On February 20, 2025, Anthony Ricco announced that he was recusing himself from being one of Diddy's attorneys. The lawyer issued a legal filing in New York stating that he cannot continue to serve as counsel for Sean "Diddy" Combs despite having provided the rapper with a "high level of representation expected by the court."
Ricco said he mentioned sufficient reasons behind his recusal in his application for withdrawal as counsel. Since the reasons are protected by attorney/client privilege, they won't be made known to the public. According to a report by SAN, dated February 22, 2025, Anthony Ricco specializes in both state and federal courts and has served as a lead counsel for over 45 federal death penalty cases.
Additionally, Ricco was a part of the legal defense team in the United States vs Osama Bin Laden, wherein members of al-Qaeda were charged for their association with the organization in 2001. The attorney's recusal from Diddy's case sparked a reaction among netizens wherein they claimed that the rapper was finished if a lawyer on Osama Bin Laden's defense team didn't want to fight his case anymore.
Education, career, and other details about attorney Anthony Ricco explored
According to Anthony Ricco's profile on the Fordham Law website, the attorney has 19 years of experience. He pursued a BA in Political Science from Adelphi University, where he graduated in May 1978. He then graduated from Northeastern University School of Law, JD, in May 1981.
Ricco became an attorney in 1982 and has served on multiple high-profile cases in the span of his career. He was counsel on the United States v. Omar Abdel Rahman, for the 1998 Embassy Bombing Case, the World Trade Bombing conspiracy case, People v. Micheal Oliver, etc. He was also a counsel for Detective Gescard Insnora in the Sean Bell case.
Apart from high-profile cases, Anthony Ricco also worked on more than a dozen death-eligible cases before the New York State Death Penalty became unconstitutional in 2004. These cases included People v. Michael Whiten et al., wherein six men were charged with the double murder of two NYC undercover police officers in 2003.
Another popular case Ricco handled was People v. Corey Arthur, wherein the defendant was charged with murder in the first degree for the death of Johnathan Levin in 1998. Johnathan Levin was the son of Gerald Levin, the CEO of Time Warner during that timeline.
While Ricco fights cases, he also spends a considerable amount of time serving as a faculty. Since 2007, the attorney has served as faculty on the Bryan R. Schechmeister Death Penalty College.
From February 12 to February 25, 2010, the attorney was an instructor at the Capital Case Defense Seminar hosted by the California Public Defenders Association and California Attorneys for Criminal Justice. Ricco was also the instructor at CLE courses hosted by the Indigent Assigned Counsel Plan, First Department, and New York Appellate Division.
Anthony Ricco has been honored with multiple accolades for his extensive legal work. In 2010, Ricco was inducted as a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. Additionally, he was honored with the New York State Bar Association's Outstanding Criminal Defense Attorney Award in 2012.
