One-time Instagram celebrity facing fraud-related and money laundering charges in the United States, Ramon Abass, also known as Hushpuppi, has hired a top-rated criminal defence lawyer, Loius Shapiro, to represent him in his trial.

HushPuppi’s new lawyer Mr Shapiro was once a deputy public defender in Los Angeles County.

He is also considered as one of the top criminal defence attorneys in Los Angeles as he regularly trains new attorneys in the “most effective approaches and methods to handling criminal law matters.”

He earned his law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

Mr Shapiro, a certified criminal law specialist by the State Bar of California, serves as a Criminal Justice Act Federal Trial Panel attorney for the Central District of California.

However, Hushpuppi hired Shapiro after his former US Lawyers, Gal Pissetzky and Vicki Podberesky recently applied to withdraw from his case.

The international lawyers, said Mr Abass (Hushpuppi) stopped communicating with them and has retained new lawyers to defend him in the case.

The lawyers reached the decision to withdraw from the case after months of negotiations with the US Government.

A Judge granted their withdrawal from the case on February 22nd, and a request seeking the approval of Mr Shapiro as Hushpuppi’s new defence counsel was granted on February 25.