Hip-hop star Sean “Diddy” Combs was ordered to be held in jail after pleading not guilty Tuesday to federal sex trafficking and prostitution charges.
The rapper and music producer was indicted by a federal grand jury. The indictment, unsealed Tuesday, painted an unsavory picture of Mr. Combs, 54, as an all-powerful sex fiend presiding over “Freak Offs.”
During these orgies, which sometimes lasted days, Mr. Combs forced victims into sex with male sex workers, sometimes by using drugs. The victims were blackmailed with secretly recorded videos of the acts performed in hotel rooms. Mr. Combs’ employees prepared the videos for his participation and enjoyment, the indictment states.
“The defendant abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct,” it says.
At an afternoon hearing in Manhattan, U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky denied Mr. Combs’ request to be released to home detention on $50 million bail. She cited “very significant concerns” about his substance abuse and “what appears to be anger issues.” Mr. Combs will be jailed while awaiting his sex trafficking trial.
Mr. Combs was led from the court building without handcuffs. No trial date has been set, though a hearing on the bail issue has been scheduled for Sept. 25 before Judge Tarnofsky.
Attorney Marc Agnifilo said his client would appeal the denial of bail. He said outside the Manhattan federal courthouse earlier Tuesday that Mr. Combs would fight the case.
“He came to New York to basically engage the court system and start the case, and it will start today, and he’s going to plead not guilty,” Mr. Agnifilo said. “He’s going to fight this with all of his energy and all of his might and the full confidence of his lawyers.”
Mr. Combs was charged with sex trafficking by force, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy.
On the sex trafficking charge, Mr. Combs faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and up to life. The racketeering charge also carries a maximum life sentence, and the transportation to engage in prostitution count carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.
According to the indictment, the “Victory” singer “relied on employees, resources and influence of the multifaceted 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.”
It alludes to the viral video of Mr. Combs’ attack on his former girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura. It said he “kicked, dragged and threw a vase at a woman as she was attempting to leave” a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.
Mr. Combs and others involved “wielded the power and prestige” of his stardom to “intimidate, threaten and lure female victims into Combs’ orbit, often under the pretense of a romantic relationship,” according to the indictment.
He would then use “force, threats of force and coercion” to get victims to participate in the “Freak Offs.”
“Freak offs were elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during and often electronically recorded,” the indictment says.
Mr. Combs and the victims would receive IV fluids to “recover from the physical exertion and drug use,” it says.
It says members and associates of Mr. Combs would facilitate the “Freak Offs” by booking the hotel rooms where the act would take place, getting the women and sex workers to the hotel, and stocking the rooms with supplies, including drugs, baby oil, lubricants, extra linens and lighting, scheduling the delivery of IV fluids, and then cleaning the rooms afterward.
To control his victims, Mr. Combs would physically hurt them, promise them career advances, promise financial support and threaten to take it away, says the indictment, which also accuses him of tracking them and their medical records, telling them how they could look, and controlling their housing.
“Victims believed they could not refuse Combs’ demands without risking their financial or job security or without repercussions in the form of physical or emotional abuse,” says the indictment, adding that he would use the records as “collateral” to make sure victims continued to participate and stayed silent.
The indictment was unsealed after the hip-hop mogul was arrested Monday in a Manhattan hotel lobby.
The federal sex trafficking investigation that led to the indictment was announced six months ago with search warrants and raids on his mansions.
During the search, police found drugs and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant. Law enforcement also seized guns and ammunition, according to the charging documents.
Mr. Combs has been hit with numerous lawsuits over the past year accusing him of subjecting victims to the kind of sexual and physical abuse described in the indictment.
The first lawsuit was by Ms. Ventura in November. It said the singer introduced her to his “ostentatious, fast-paced and drug-filled lifestyle” and would beat and rape her.
The lawsuit was settled one day after it was filed.
Among other lawsuits, a woman said Mr. Combs raped her when she was 17 and a male music producer said Mr. Combs forced him to have sex with prostitutes.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams told reporters Tuesday that the “investigation is ongoing” and called for anyone with more information to come forward.
“A year ago, Sean Combs stood in Times Square and was handed a key to New York City,” Mr. Williams said. “Today, he’s been indicted and will face justice in the Southern District of New York.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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