2024-09-18 07:15:02
Sean “Diddy” Combs, the spotlight-adoring music impresario who helped launch the careers of some of the biggest names in hip-hop and R&B, was denied bail and sent to jail Tuesday after being accused in a three-count federal indictment of having used his sprawling business empire to abuse, threaten and traffic women in order to “fulfill his sexual desires” and protect his reputation.
Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York accuse Combs of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution in the indictment unsealed Tuesday.
It accuses Combs, 54, along with members of his security and household staff, personal assistants and other associates in his businesses, of “creating a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.”
The indictment centers around Combs’ alleged orchestration of elaborate sex parties that he called “freak offs” and that included the distribution of drugs, the transportation of sex workers across state and international lines, and the use of force and threats against women who were forced to participate.
He appeared somber during his arraignment hearing Tuesday in Manhattan, where he pleaded not guilty and was denied bail in front of his three adult sons and other supporters. Two of the charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Prosecutors had asked that he remain jailed until trial.
In a memo supporting that request, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Combs’ “disposition to violence cannot be reasonably prevented through bail conditions” and called the rapper-turned-mogul a flight risk who “poses a significant danger to the community.”
The memo, which says the government interviewed more than 50 victims and witnesses, describes decades of alleged physical abuse by Combs against women, including some he was romantically involved with, and the alleged kidnapping in 2011 of a person identified only as “Individual-1” as reasons he should be detained.
The memo also says that agents recovered three AR-15s — two of which were broken down into parts with magazines loaded in them — in Combs’ bedroom closet during a search of his Miami home in March. The serial numbers on the AR-15s were defaced, Williams said.
During the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson said Combs’ history of substance abuse was also among the reasons he should be jailed until trial. After he was arrested Monday night at a hotel in Manhattan, where he was staying, she said, law enforcement found a pink powder in his room that is believed to be a narcotic.
Combs’ attorneys had proposed he be released on a $50 million bond, which they say is secured by equity in his $48 million home in Miami. In a letter to Judge Robyn Tarnofsky, they said Combs was not a flight risk and that his legal counsel was in possession of his passport, as well as those of his mother and his four daughters. But Tarnofsky denied their request, citing, among other things, Combs’ substance abuse and anger issues.
The indictment demands that Combs forfeit any property and money used to commit the crimes he is accused of, though it doesn’t specify any particular assets or amount.
Williams reflected on Combs’ fall from grace Tuesday.
“A year ago Sean Combs stood in Times Square and was handed a key to New York City,” he said. “Today he’s been indicted and will face justice in the Southern District of New York.”
Outside the courthouse Tuesday morning, Marc Agnifilo, one of Combs’ attorneys said, Combs is innocent and would plead not guilty.
“He’s going to fight this with all of his energy and all of his might, and the full confidence of his lawyers,” Agnifilo told reporters. “And I expect a long battle with a good result for Mr. Combs.”
Combs is the highest-profile music artist to face sexual misconduct charges since the R&B singer R. Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, was sentenced in 2022 to more than 30 years in prison for sexually abusing fans, some of them children, racketeering and sex trafficking.
Combs, who helped boost the careers of some of the biggest names in hip-hop and R&B, including the Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige and Usher, has seen his star dim since a bombshell lawsuit filed in November by his former longtime girlfriend, Casandra Ventura.
Ventura, an R&B singer known as Cassie, accused him of years of physical and sexual abuse. The two settled the lawsuit in one day without disclosing the terms and with Combs denying any wrongdoing.
Many of the allegations in the indictment closely mirror claims Ventura made in her lawsuit, including that he forced women to have sex with male prostitutes and participate in drug-fueled orgies that Combs called “freak offs.”
The 14-page indictment called them “elaborate and produced sex performances” that Combs is alleged to have “arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded.” They “occurred regularly, sometimes lasted multiple days, and often involved multiple commercial sex workers,” according to the indictment, which says that when federal agents raided Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami in March, they “seized various Freak Off supplies, including narcotics and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant.” Williams said they also seized electronic devices that contain images and videos of the freak offs with multiple victims.
The indictment says Combs and his business associates would lure women into his world, “often under the pretense of a romantic relationship,” and then use force, threats and coercion, including drugs to keep them “obedient and compliant,” to compel their participation in freak offs. No victims are named in the indictment. The sex trafficking count mentions “Victim-1,” whose interactions with Combs as described in the indictment mirror those described in Ventura’s lawsuit.
The indictment, for instance, mentions a 2016 assault on Ventura that was captured on hotel surveillance video and published by CNN in May. Combs admitted to his behavior in the video in an apology after its release. According to the indictment, Combs attempted to bribe a member of the hotel security staff who had intervened.
When his authority or reputation was threatened with negative publicity, the indictment alleges, including around late 2023, after Ventura’s lawsuit was filed, Combs and members and associates of his enterprise are alleged to have pressured witnesses and victims, including through attempted bribery, to stay silent and not report what they experienced or knew to law enforcement, according to the indictment.
Ventura’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor, declined to comment on the indictment.
At the news conference Tuesday, Williams, the U.S. attorney, said Combs had not acted alone and indicated it was possible others may still face charges. He said he could not specify how many people are believed to have been victimized by Combs but stressed that the investigation is active, and encouraged “anyone with information about this case to come forward and to do it quickly.”
“Combs has been charged with RICO conspiracy to use his business and employees of that business and other close associates to get his way,” Williams said.
Since Ventura’s lawsuit, several others have accused Combs in separate lawsuits of sexual assault or sexual misconduct. Combs’ attorneys are fighting those suits and have vehemently denied the allegations.
