Sean “Diddy” Combs added high-profile criminal defense lawyer Brian Steel to his team in the weeks prior to his sex-trafficking trial.
Steel filed a notice that he was joining the music mogul’s defense on April 15, just weeks before the rapper appeared for the first time in front of potential jurors on May 5.
Diddy has been charged with racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution in a federal indictment unsealed Sept. 17. Diddy has maintained his innocence. If found guilty, he faces a minimum of 15 years behind bars or a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Authorities alleged Diddy 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 prosecutors.
Here’s what to know about Georgia powerhouse, Brian Steel.
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The Atlanta-based lawyer was added to Diddy’s team on April 15.
He joined Marc Agnifilo, Teny Geragos, Alexandra A.E. Shapiro, Anna Estevao, Jason Driscoll, Xavier Donaldson and Nicole Westmoreland.
Steel is one of the last-minute additions to the team. Donaldson was added May 2, while Westmoreland was added May 7.
Celebrity attorney Mark Geragos will assist Combs’ legal team throughout the trial in an unofficial role, a source told Fox News Digital.
Steel began his career as a tax attorney at Price Waterhouse after graduating from Fordham University School of Law.
He has appeared in courts in many states besides Georgia, including California, Florida, Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon and now New York.
His clients’ alleged crimes have ranged from RICO, wire fraud, immigration fraud and money laundering to murder, armed robbery, drug offenses, rape and child sex offenses.
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The attorney defending Diddy on charges that stem from lavish parties filled with alcohol actually leads a clean lifestyle.
“Brian doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke and can’t believe anybody would,” lawyer David Botts told the New Yorker. “He won’t curse, even in court, even if he’s reading from a transcript. So when he’s cross-examining, he’ll say, ‘So-and-so F-word.’ The court will say, ‘Mr. Steel, you can read that word.’ But Brian still won’t do it.”
“Brian only drinks water,” said the attorney, who has known Steel for more than 30 years. “His lunch is tofu or salmon, maybe, and a salad. No bread. I’ve never seen him eat out. And he’ll bring a toothbrush to court. A toothbrush! He exercises daily, before or after court. Running. Swimming. Weights. And he’s got a great family, three kids, a wonderful wife, Colette, who is also his law partner. They kind of idolize each other.”
Steel and his wife began their law firm together in 1997.
Steel likely caught Combs’ eye after defending Young Thug in the YSL trial.
Young Thug was indicted under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) in 2022 as authorities claimed he used his music label YSL as cover for a violent gang.
“Brian is a legend, especially after YSL,” Douglas Weinstein, who represented one of Young Thug’s co-defendants, told Rolling Stone. “His insights, tenacity and character will be a phenomenal addition to Mr. Combs’ team. I saw it in person during the YSL trial. I wish I could be a fly on the wall with whatever happens. He’s a legend in Georgia.”
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The RICO trial ended up lasting nearly two years. While Steel was ready to defend the rapper until the end, Young Thug chose to accept a plea deal in October 2024. He was sentenced to time served and 15 years of probation.
However, he has some regrets: “I shoulda listened to you,” he told Steel during an interview with the New Yorker.
“The worldwide tours and money that’s being thrown at him now,” Steel explained. “It was good before. Now it’s next level. People realize what he did; in my opinion, he unmasked the truth that the criminal-justice system is broken.”
Following the conclusion of Young Thug’s trial, Steel became somewhat of a celebrity himself. He posed for a photo shoot for Young Thug’s clothing label, SP5DER, and rapper Drake titled a song after him.
“Yeah, shout Brian Steel, take off the cuffs,” Drake rapped in the song, which doesn’t seem to be about the lawyer specifically but about freedom. “We leavin’ now.”
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The lawyer has spent 30 years defending people accused of criminal conduct.
“The more challenging the case is, the more likely I’ll take it,” Steel told the New Yorker. “Do I like the person I’m defending? That’s the main thing.”
When asked if he’d have chosen to represent the late Jeffrey Epstein in his sex-trafficking trial, he told the outlet, “I’d have to understand better all the facts and circumstances.”
“See, I don’t believe allegations,” he explained. “I go into it believing the person is innocent.”
