Sean Combs, the music mogul and entrepreneur known as Diddy, was indicted Tuesday on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution, following a federal investigation and a pair of raids earlier this year. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York unsealed the 14-page indictment, revealing details of a case that has cast a shadow over Combs's decades-long career.
Combs, 54, was arrested Monday evening at a Manhattan hotel, his attorney Marc Agnifilo confirmed. Federal prosecutors allege that Combs turned his business empire into a "criminal enterprise" involved in a range of illegal activities, including kidnapping, arson, and forced labor.
Standing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky on Tuesday, Combs pleaded not guilty to the charges. The judge is expected to decide soon whether the hip-hop icon will remain in custody pending trial.
"We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office," Agnifilo said. "Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community. He is an imperfect person but not a criminal."
The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges otherwise. Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, described Combs's conduct as a "recurrent and widely known pattern of abuse" during a press conference on Tuesday. Williams said the mogul coerced women into fulfilling his sexual desires and used threats, drugs, and violence to maintain control over his victims.
The indictment alleges that Combs, along with his associates, orchestrated what were referred to as “freak off” parties, highly produced sexual performances involving commercial sex workers, which were recorded without many victims' consent. Prosecutors claim Combs distributed drugs like ketamine, ecstasy, and GHB to keep his victims compliant. During the March raids on Combs’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami, authorities seized over 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant, which were used during these performances.
Williams revealed that law enforcement also confiscated multiple AR-15 rifles with scratched-off serial numbers, found in Combs’s Miami home, along with large-capacity magazines and additional evidence related to the crimes alleged in the indictment.
Combs’s legal troubles have intensified since November 2023, when he was named in ten lawsuits, including nine involving allegations of sexual misconduct. While Combs has consistently denied wrongdoing, his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, also known as the singer Cassie, filed a bombshell lawsuit last year, accusing him of rape, sex trafficking, and years of physical and emotional abuse. That case was settled swiftly, but more accusers have come forward since.
The indictment includes claims that Combs manipulated women into performing sexual acts under the pretense of romantic relationships and threatened to cut off financial support to maintain control over them. Some women were reportedly sent into hiding for days to conceal their abuse. In one instance, Combs allegedly kidnapped a person at gunpoint and later set fire to their vehicle using a Molotov cocktail in 2011, an act eerily similar to accusations made by Ventura in her suit, which stated that Combs blew up rapper Kid Cudi’s car in 2012.
The charges, combined with ongoing legal battles, have taken a toll on Combs’s business ventures. He recently sold his stakes in Revolt, the cable network he co-founded, and DeLeón tequila, a partnership with Diageo. His Los Angeles mansion, where federal agents carried out one of the raids, was listed for sale earlier this year for $61.5 million.
Despite the mounting allegations, Agnifilo maintained Combs’s innocence. "Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation. He voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges," Agnifilo said.
Prosecutors, however, are seeking Combs's pretrial detention, arguing that he poses a serious flight risk and could obstruct justice. Williams told reporters that Combs has made efforts to tamper with witnesses, suggesting that he attempted to conceal his actions from individuals who had received grand jury subpoenas.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has requested that Tarnofsky deny bail, citing that no conditions of release could "reasonably assure the safety of others" while Combs remains free.
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