Sean Combs Denied Bail in Racketeering, Sex-Trafficking Case
In a stunning scene played out in a Manhattan federal courtroom Tuesday, the once powerful music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was ordered locked up indefinitely on his pending racketeering and sex trafficking indictment.
The billionaire founder of Bad Boy Entertainment was unceremoniously led away by U.S. Marshals as his three adult sons watched. Moments earlier, U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky denied Combs bail citing her “very significant concerns” with his alleged substance abuse, “what seem like anger issues” and his alleged efforts behind closed doors to control the outcome of his prosecution.
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Tarnofsky said she considered alternatives – including Combs’ request that he be held in home detention with electronic monitoring and a $50 million bond secured by his Miami real estate – but it came down to an issue of “trust.” “Your lawyer asked me to trust you, and to trust him, and I don’t know that I think you can trust yourself,” she said. At a later point, the judge said, “I don’t believe [your lawyer] has the ability to control you.”
Combs, 54, was arrested Monday night and appeared in court Tuesday for his arraignment. He pleaded not guilty to the three-count indictment unsealed Tuesday morning.
Prosecutors laid out a lengthy argument for why Combs should remain in custody, claiming his wealth and the severity of the charges made him a significant flight risk, and his alleged history of violence and sexual abuse made him a danger to the community. They also expressed their concern that Combs would interfere with victims and witnesses if he was released.
They specifically brought up former Danity Kane and Diddy-Dirty Money member Dawn Richard, who sued Combs last week. In addition to alleging that Combs had repeatedly groped her and threatened her life, Richard detailed numerous instances where she claims she personally witnessed Combs physically attack his ex-girlfriend, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura. A few days later, Richard’s Diddy-Dirty Money bandmate Kalenna Harper — who is mentioned more than two dozen times in Richard’s complaint as a fellow witness to certain events — issued a statement that largely distanced herself from Richard’s experience and recollections of events.
During Tuesday’s bail hearing, prosecutors alleged that Combs called or texted Harper 58 times in the four days after Richard’s lawsuit was filed and had a total of 128 phone contacts with her. Prosecutors used the incident as evidence that Combs had ongoing contact with victims and witnesses “to spread false narratives and to get witnesses on his side” in an alleged “gaslighting” campaign just days before his arrest.
Additionally, prosecutors claimed that three days after Ventura’s lawsuit was filed last year, Combs made contact with an unnamed victim, allegedly trying to “convince the victim that she had willingly engaged in sex acts with him,” and that if she continued her “support and friendship,” things would be okay. It was a clear reference to Combs’ financial support of the woman, prosecutors alleged.
In arguing for his client’s release, Combs’ lawyer Marc Agnifilo said his client “is not a perfect person,” and that “there’s been drug use.” But he painted Combs’ relationship with Ventura as mutually toxic, alleging they were both in a “dark period” during their decade-long relationship. Ventura is not named in the indictment, but prosecutors made it clear her allegations form the heart of their case. In her lawsuit filed last November, Ventura alleged Combs trapped her a vicious cycle of abuse, violence, and sex trafficking.
Agnifilio argued that the allegedly violent sex parties called “Freak Offs” that prosecutors say Combs orchestrated for his personal sexual gratification were voluntary. “Is it sex trafficking? No, not if everybody wants to be there,” Agnifilo told the court. “We are not all better off if the federal government comes into our bedrooms. They don’t do great there, and that’s what’s happening here. They’re coming into this man’s bedroom, and they are making not just judgments. They are charging him with statutes that, as they said, could put him in jail for life.”
But while Agnifilo claimed Combs was cooperative and doing everything he could to earn the trust of the court, prosecutors said authorities found “bags of pink powder” inside his hotel room shortly after his arrest. They said test results were still pending, but the substance looked “visually similar” to the ecstasy-based pink powder previously seized from Combs. They said Combs should have been on his “very, very best behavior” while “sitting in a hotel, waiting to be arrested on federal charges,” but it appeared he had narcotics.
During a short recess before the judge made her decision, Combs sat alone as his lawyers exited the courtroom. He closed his eyes, put his hand on his chin and bounced his leg before glancing back towards the pews where his family was sitting to give them a slight wave.
In arguing for Combs’ detainment pending trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson brought up the video of him assaulting Ventura in a hallway of the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles. Without naming Ventura, the prosecutor said the video was recorded after an alleged “Freak Off.” Johnson said Combs tried to bribe a hotel employee with a “handful of cash” to stay silent over the incident. She said Combs only admitted to the incident once the video leaked in May 2024 and he was “forced to acknowledge” his actions due to the “indisputable proof.” She said that when the victim, known to be Ventura, first alleged the assault in her lawsuit, Combs issued public denials, saying in one that he “did not do any of the awful things alleged.” Johnson said the “unequivocal denials” were proof Combs couldn’t be trusted. “He is a serial abuser and a serial obstructer,” she told the court.
Speaking to media after Combs was remanded into custody, Agnifilo said he planned to appeal the decision to hold his client without bail. “Mr. Combs is a fighter. He’s going to fight this until the end. He is innocent,” the lawyer said. “We’re going to fight this case with everything we have.”
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