2024-09-19 21:10:04
Sean “Diddy” Combs was willing to turn himself in to authorities before his indictment on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges, his attorney has said.
On Wednesday, the hip-hop artist and music industry mogul was denied bail for a second time after he was arrested on Monday in New York.
According to his lawyer, prosecutors for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which issued the indictment, declined their offer for Combs to surrender.
In an email to Newsweek, the Attorney’s Office declined to comment.
Marc Agnifilo, of Agnifilo Law Group, is representing Combs in court, and on Tuesday, he said on CNN‘s The Source With Kaitlan Collins: “The most important thing … is that Mr. Combs came to New York on September 5.
“As soon as we realized that this indictment was going to be coming down in a matter of weeks, maybe months, but sometime soon, Mr. Combs got on a plane, left his home in Florida, flew to New York.
“I called the prosecutors myself. I said: ‘Mr. Combs is in New York. Do you want to know where he is? If you want to where he is, I’ll tell you where he is, but he wants to surrender. He’s here to surrender.'”
Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images, Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
Agnifilo added, “They didn’t want him to surrender because if he surrenders, they don’t get to tell the judge that he’s a flight risk and he’s a danger because who as a danger and a flight risk would fly to New York and surrender. So they didn’t want him to surrender.”
Host Kaitlan Collins asked the attorney when they learned that Combs would likely face formal charges.
“So I really knew he was formerly going to face charges on March 25, the day of the searches. When Homeland Security searched his Los Angeles home, his Miami home, and his airplane, I knew that day by looking at the search warrants—I mean, I’ve been doing this for a while. This is not my first or 100th rodeo—that this was going to come as a matter of time,” Agnifilo said.
Newsweek contacted Agnifilo by email for comment.
On September 17, a 14-page indictment was unsealed, accusing Combs of racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, cause or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution charges.
“For decades, SEAN COMBS, a/k/a ‘Puff Daddy,’ a/k/a ‘P Diddy,’ a/k/a ‘Diddy,’ a/k/a ‘PD,’ a/k/a ‘Love,’ the defendant, abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct,” the indictment said.
On Tuesday, Combs pleaded not guilty at a court hearing, where he was first denied bail.
On Wednesday, District Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr. denied Combs’ $50 million bond package, deeming him a flight risk and at risk of coercing witnesses.
Combs remains in remand at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, which has previously been a temporary home for other incarcerated celebs, including R. Kelly, Michael Cohen, Allison Mack and Ghislaine Maxwell.
A trial date is set for October 9.
