Diddy Engages Same Lawyer as Sam Bankman-Fried for Legal Defense

Rapper and producer Sean “Diddy” Combs is hiring Alexandra Shapiro, the same attorney representing former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, to defend him against charges of racketeering and sex trafficking in New York.

In a notice of appeal filed on Monday, Shapiro, a partner at Shapiro Arato Bach, was designated as Combs’ counsel. Shapiro has been defending Bankman-Fried since he was convicted last year on all counts for fraud against investors, which prosecutors described as likely the largest in a decade, drawing parallels to Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.

Bankman-Fried received a 25-year prison sentence. Last month, Shapiro appealed his conviction, criticizing Judge Lewis Kaplan’s management of the case and asserting that Bankman-Fried was unfairly prevented from introducing key evidence.

Interestingly, both men are reportedly housed in the same unit at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York, as reported by The New York Times.

Combs was charged on September 17 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Prosecutors allege that he “led a criminal enterprise” that exploited women through sex trafficking, forced labor, and kidnapping, among other offenses.