Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to appeal his bail denial Wednesday in racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking case
(CNN) — Sean “Diddy” Combs is expected Wednesday afternoon to appeal a federal judge’s decision to hold the hip-hop artist and music mogul without bail after he pleaded not guilty in federal court to charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution Tuesday.
Until the court appearance in front of US District Court Judge Andrew Carter at 3:30 p.m. ET, Combs will be held by himself at the Special Housing Unit in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, according to a law enforcement official. Carter is expected to preside over Combs’ case until the end.
On Monday night – following a slew of sexual assault lawsuits and a federal human trafficking probe in the past year – Combs was arrested at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan and taken into custody by Homeland Security Investigations, a source familiar with negotiations for his surrender told CNN.
Judge Robyn Tarnofsky ruled in a New York court on Tuesday that Combs will stay in custody while he faces charges. He faces a sentence of up to life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors allege Combs, 54, created and ran a “criminal enterprise” through his business empire that engaged in crimes including sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice, according to the federal indictment.
The indictment states that Combs “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct” for more than adecade.
Specifically, the indictment accuses Combs of working with other associates and employees, alleges he hosted drug-fueled “freak offs” with victims and sex workers, notes instances of physical and sexual abuse and illuminates what law enforcement found in the March raids of his homes.
In court, prosecutors argued the music mogul should not be released because he had previously reached out to witnesses and victims. Meanwhile, Combs’ defense attorneys proposed to put him on home detention with a $50 million bond secured by his Miami residence, according to a bail motion Tuesday.
The judge told Combs there were no conditions she could find to assure her that he would appear in court if released. Tarnofsky said her concern is “this is a crime that happens behind closed doors, even when pretrial services is monitoring.”
If the bail appeal is denied, Combs will be remanded back to the detention center. Combs’ lawyer Marc Agnifilo told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday night that Combs will likely not take a plea deal.
“I believe he’s innocent of the charges, and he is going to go to trial, and I believe he’s going to win,” Agnifilo said.
Combs is a ‘serial abuser and a serial obstructor,’ prosecutors say
In court Tuesday, Assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson said Combs should be detained because he is a “serial abuser and a serial obstructor,” adding pretrial services also recommended detention.
Agnifilo asserted the case is about “one victim” – an argument fiercely opposed by federal prosecutors. In a rebuttal, Johnson emphasized, “This is not a case about one victim. There are multiple victims.”
Since last November, Combs has been hit with 10 lawsuits – nine directly accusing him of sexual assault.
“Members and associates of the Combs Enterprise engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other activities, sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, coercion and enticement to engage in prostitution, narcotics offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice,” the indictment states.
During Combs’ detention hearing, federal prosecutors said at least a dozen witnesses personally observed the music mogul’s violence against women or the injuries they sustained at his hands. Prosecutors also noted Combs had reached out to victims and witnesses, some of whom are scared of him.
Agnifilo told CNN on Tuesday night that he has “flown around the country,” interviewing a “large number” of men who are alleged witnesses in the case and argued the “freak offs” — what the indictment described as “elaborate and produced” sex performances in which he drugged and coerced victims into extended sex acts with male sex workers — were consensual acts among adults.
“Nobody was too drunk. Nobody was too high,” he said.
Sex trafficking charge centers on 2016 video
The indictment accuses Combs of years of abuse that “was, at times, verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual.” Combs “engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse toward women and other individuals,” the indictment states.
Johnson told the judge Tuesday that the investigation uncovered evidence of Combs allegedly assaulting victims by choking, hitting, kicking and dragging victims.
The physical abuse in particular was “recurrent and widely known,” the indictment states, and occurred on “numerous” occasions from about 2009 and continued for years.
The sex trafficking charge is based on allegations against a single, unnamed “Victim-I” from about 2009 up to about 2018, the indictment states.
The indictment highlights a March 2016 incident, “which was captured on video and later publicly reported,” showing Combs kicking, dragging and throwing a vase at a woman. When a hotel staffer intervened, Combs attempted to bribe them for their silence, the indictment adds.
The details match up with CNN’s reporting in May of the video that showed Combs beating and kicking his then-girlfriend Casandra Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel. She is not named in the indictment.
In November 2023, Ventura sued Combs and accused him of rape and years of abuse. In response, an attorney for Combs said he “vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations.” They settled the lawsuit a day after it was filed.
Attorney Douglas Wigdor, who represents Ventura, said in a statement Tuesday: “In response to the numerous inquiries we have received regarding the indictment of Sean Combs, neither Ms. Ventura nor I have any comment.”
The explosive surveillance video contradicted Combs’ earlier comments denying wrongdoing, and days afterward he posted an Instagram video apologizing. That video has since been deleted.
“My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video,” he said.
Combs’ attorney argued the 2016 video is not evidence of sex trafficking, as prosecutors suggested, but evidence of Combs “having more than one girlfriend and getting caught.”
“This was just a matter of personal embarrassment because he and the person in the video were in the midst of a 10-year relationship that was difficult at times, it was toxic at times, but it was mutually so,” Agnifilo told CNN Tuesday night.
Diddy’s attorney pledges he won’t flee and has ‘earned’ court’s trust
Agnifilo asked the court Tuesday to allow Combs to remain out on bond prior to trial, saying he had no plans to flee and had “earned” the court’s trust.
The attorney said he took Combs’ and his family members’ passports and reported all of his domestic travel since he became involved in the investigation as a show to prosecutors they were taking this seriously. In addition, Combs is in treatment and therapy, which Agnifilo argued was a reason for release.
Agnifilo said he knew the music mogul was going to formally face charges on March 25, when the Homeland Security Investigations agency led dramatic searches of his Los Angeles and Miami homes.
Law enforcement seized guns, ammo, drugs and a huge collection of baby oil and lubricant during the searches, according to the indictment. The indictment accuses Combs of brandishing firearms “to intimidate and threaten others.”
By September, Agnifilo said he realized an indictment was “coming down in a matter of weeks, maybe months,” so he urged Combs to fly to New York. Agnifilo said he called federal prosecutors and said his client was willing to surrender.
When asked how Combs’ defense team would assure the court he wouldn’t pose a flight risk or communicate with witnesses, as prosecutors argued Tuesday, Agnifilo said: “The most important thing, even more than the passport, is that Mr. Combs came to New York on September 5.”
Agnifilo said he will argue the same points again Wednesday, and “we’ll make it as much as we can until we get him out.”
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CNN’s Emma Tucker, Eric Levenson, John Miller, Laura Dolan, Elise Hammond and Kara Scannell contributed to this report.
