Diddy do it?
Combs pleads not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering
NEW YORK — Sean “Diddy” Combs headed to jail Tuesday to await trial in a federal sex trafficking case that accuses him of presiding over a sordid empire of sexual crimes protected by blackmail and shocking acts of violence.
The music mogul is charged with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.
The indictment against him lists allegations that go back to 2008.
He's accused of inducing female victims and male sex workers into drugged-up, sometimes dayslong sexual performances dubbed “Freak-offs.”
The indictment also refers obliquely to an attack on his former girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, that was captured on video.
“Not guilty,” Combs told a court, standing to speak after expressionlessly listening to the allegations with his uncuffed hands folded in his lap.
After U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky declined to grant him bail, Combs took a long swig from a water bottle, then was led out of court, turning toward family members in the audience as he went.
“Mr. Combs is a fighter. He's going to fight this to the end. He's innocent,” his lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said after court.
He plans to appeal the bail decision.
The Bad Boy Records founder is accused of sexually abusing and using physical force against women and getting his personal assistants, security and household staff to help him hide it all.
Prosecutors say he also tried to bribe and intimidate witnesses and victims to keep them quiet.
“Simply put, he is a serial abuser and a serial obstructor,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson told court.
Agnifilo acknowledged Combs was “not a perfect person,” saying he had used drugs and had been in “toxic relationships” but was getting treatment and therapy.
“The evidence in this case is extremely problematic,” the attorney told court.
He maintained that the case stemmed from one long-term, consensual relationship that faltered amid infidelity. He didn't name the woman, but the details matched those of Combs' decade-long involvement with Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura.
The “Freak-offs,” Agnifilo contended, were an expansion of that relationship, and not coercive.
“Is it sex trafficking? Not if everybody wants to be there,” Agnifilo said, arguing that authorities were intruding on his client's private life.
Prosecutors said in court papers that they had interviewed more than 50 victims and witnesses and expect the number to grow.
They said they'd use financial, travel and billing records, electronic data and communications and videos of the “Freak-offs” to prove their case.
Combs was arrested Monday in Manhattan, roughly six months after federal authorities raided his luxurious homes in Los Angeles and Miami.
A conviction on every charge would require at least 15 years in prison, with the possibility of a life sentence.
The indictment describes Combs as the head of a criminal enterprise that engaged or attempted to engage in sex trafficking, forced labour, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, drug offences, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.
Combs and his associates wielded his “power and prestige” to intimidate and lure women into his orbit, “often under the pretense of a romantic relationship,” according to the indictment.
It says he then would use force, threats and coercion to get the women to engage with male sex workers in the “Freak-offs” — “elaborate and produced sex performances” that Combs arranged and recorded, creating dozens of videos.
He ensured their participation by procuring and providing drugs, controlling their careers, leveraging his financial support and using intimidation and violence, according to the indictment.
It said his employees facilitated “Freak-offs” by taking care of tasks like travel and hotel arrangements and stocking them with such supplies as drugs and baby oil.
— The Associated Press