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2nd Update, 1:26 PM: A federal judge has denied Sean Combs effort’s to be free before his trial on sex trafficking and other charges.
In a just over an hour-long hearing in a New York City courtroom, Magistrate Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky agreed with the argument put forth by the U.S. Attorney’s office that Combs is a danger to the public and especially potential witness in the detailed case against him. After their client entered a not guilty plea in court earlier this afternoon, defense lawyers pitched a $50 million bond for Combs and in home detention.
After hearing from both sides and taking a brief break to consult with court officials behind closed doors, the judge just ordered that Combs be “detained.”
UPDATE, 12:10 PM: Sean Combs has officially entered a plea of “not guilty” to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Indicted and arrest on September 16, the performer is currently before a federal judge in New York on the trio of charges that could see him behind bars for life if found guilty.
Lawyers for Combs are advocating their client be let free on a $50 million bond, travel restrictions and a NYC-based “home detention with GPS monitoring” system. The U.S. Attorney’s office disagrees and wants Magistrate Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky to order Combs remain in custody for fear of flight risk and intimidation of witnesses.
“Simply put, he is a serial abuser and a serial obstructor,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson bluntly old the court of Combs in the still on-going hearing.
PREVIOUSLY 7:25 AM: UPDATED with more details from U.S. Attorney’s office & court filings – Sean “Diddy” Combs could face more than 20 years behind bars if found guilty on charges revealed in a three-count indictment unsealed early this morning.
Arrested on Monday night by federal authorities at a NYC hotel, the “I’ll Be Missing You” rapper is formally charged with racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. Going back almost two decades, the charges carry sentences that vary from 15 years to life for the 54-year-old Combs.
Attorneys for Combs are pitching a $50 million bond for their client to be released from custody (read the defense proposal here). Fighting prosecutors wish to see any bail denied, the defense is also offering “home detention with GPS monitoring” for Combs, as well as the performer handing over this passport and restrict his travel to in and around New York City.
“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,” declares the just-unsealed indictment against the much-accused producer and performer.
“To do so, COMBS relied on the employees, resources, and influence of the multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled — 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 filing from the U.S. Attorney Damian Williams’ office adds.
Read the federal indictment against Sean Combs in its entirety here
In language very similar to the swath of sexual assault and other lawsuits against Combs in the past several months, the indictment alleges that Combs used drugs, violence and career advancement in the music industry to induce and control his victims, entourage and others. The rapper also seemingly used shame and blackmail to keep people from speaking out. “The sensitive, embarrassing and incriminating recordings that he made during Freak Offs as collateral to ensure the continued obedience and silence of the victims,” the unsealed indictment says.
The feds says the “Freak Offs” were “elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during and often electronically recorded.”
Combs is currently awaiting arraignment in a Manhattan courtroom.
The “Love” performer is expected to enter a plea of not guilty, according to his lawyer. “He’s going to fight this with all of his energy and all of his might and the full confidence of his lawyers,” attorney Marc Agnifilo said outside the federal building this morning.
In a detention letter submitted to the court this morning, prosecutors are seeking to keep Combs in custody during the pre-trial process, Williams confirmed this morning.
“The defendant’s long history of violent conduct makes clear that even the most stringent bail conditions will not suffice to ensure the safety of the community,” reads the detention letter to Magistrate Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky from the U.S. attorney for Southern District of New York.
“The defendant poses an ongoing and significant danger to the community, has repeatedly engaged in obstructive conduct, and presents a serious risk of flight,” the 16-page correspondence goes on to say. “The Government respectfully submits that the defendant cannot meet his burden of overcoming the statutory presumption in favor of detention. There are no conditions of bail that would assure the appearance and compliance of the defendant, or the safety of others. Accordingly, any application for bail should be denied.”
Read the U.S. Attorney’s letter to request to deny bail to Sean Combs here
Part of the effort to keep Combs off the street is rooted in where this feds’ probe might go next.
“A year ago, Sean Combs stood in Times Square and was handed a key to New York City,” exclaimed Williams in a brief press conference Tuesday after the sex-trafficking indictment was unsealed. “Today, he’s been indicted and will face justice in the Southern District of New York. We are not done. This investigation is ongoing, and I encourage anyone with information about this case to come forward and to do it quickly.”
As well as facing time in a federal prison, self-proclaimed billionaire Combs could be looking at a serious financial hit.
The government intends to seize “any and all property, real and personal” and unspecified “sum of money” from the alleged crimes, the indictment states. According to the indictment, the racketeering charges cover crimes that go back as far as 2008. The claims of sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution start with acts committed first in 2009.
After what I’m told by a law enforcement source was “months and months of investigation by coordinating agencies,” Combs’ arrest on September 16 is directly related to the raids that took place in March at the rapper’s Los Angeles and Miami homes. In that vein, the indictment states bluntly that during the raids of Combs’ Florida and California residences — which he labeled as “meritless” and a “witch hunt” — officers found a number of “firearms” and “seized various Freak Off supplies, including narcotics and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant.”
First accused of sexual assault in November by singer and former girlfriend Cassie Ventura, Combs has been the alleged perpetrator of sexual assault and other misconduct against multiple women and men. For months now, he has been the subject of an ongoing federal criminal investigation in New York.
While Combs has denied all accusations, he did settle with Ventura within 24 hours of the filing of her suit. Sources told Deadline at the time that Combs paid Ventura “around $30 million.”
Not that the matter went away as Combs likely hoped. The performer did admit to the severity of his abuse in his relationship with Ventura after security camera footage emerged in May of him brutally assaulting her in a L.A. hotel in 2016. At the time, as it also was revealed that Combs bought the footage for $50,000 the day after the incident, Ventura’s lawyers slammed his apology as “disingenuous.”
Since Ventura’s legal action, the dam has burst on Combs, with even a producer on his most recent album claiming sexual abuse in a $30 million suit.
As recently as last week, Dawn Richard, one of the singers from the MTV series Making the Band, Danity Kane, filed a lawsuit claiming abuse and assault by Combs. Filed Tuesday in a New York federal court, the singer alleged the hip-hop mogul sexually assaulted her, deprived her of food and sleep and refused to pay her fairly over years. As has been cited in almost every one of the cases against Combs, Richard alleges that the mogul threatened to destroy her career if she did not comply with his demands and desires.
