After months of accusations of sexual misconduct and other allegations, Sean “Diddy” Combs was charged Tuesday on three counts: racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution, according to legal documents.
He is expected to appear before a judge Tuesday morning, where the charges will be read. If convicted, Combs would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, and a maximum of life.
His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, told TMZ outside the the courthouse on Tuesday that he will “fight like hell” to free his client on bail, and asserted that Combs is innocent.
Related Articles
Combs is charged with “a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse towards women and other individuals.” According to the indictment, Combs “hit, kicked, threw objects at, and dragged victims, sometimes by their hair.”
The indictment alleges that Combs and his associates would threaten and coerce victims into participating in days-long sex events called “freak offs.”
“Freak Offs were elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded,” the indictment states.
According to the indictment, Combs would hire male sex workers, sometimes arranging for them to be transported across state lines or internationally. At a press conference, Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the women were given ketamine, ecstasy and GHB.
Afterward, Combs and the participants often required IV fluids to recuperate from the drug use, the indictment states.
During searches of Combs’ residences in March, investigators seized “freak off supplies,” including drugs and more than 1000 bottles of baby oil and other lubricant, the indictment states.
Combs is also accused of controlling the victims using violence, as well as promises of financial reward or punishment. Combs and his security personnel carried firearms, and Combs sometimes brandished a gun to threaten victims and witnesses in the case, according to the indictment. The searches turned up multiple AR-15s with defaced serial numbers, as well as a drum magazine, the indictment states.
Combs would also use the videos of the “freak offs” as “collateral” to ensure that the victims remained silent about the abuse, according to the indictment.
In the second and third counts, Combs is accused of causing an unnamed victim to “engage in commercial sex acts” and “knowingly transported an individual in interstate and foreign commerce with intent that the individual engage in prostitution,” among other claims.
At the press conference, Williams said that Combs “did not do all this on his own,” and noted that Combs has been charged with a racketeering conspiracy. He also said that once the federal investigation got underway, Combs and his associates sought to impede it.
“He and others pressured witnesses and victims to stay silent, including by making phone calls to witnesses and victims and giving them a false narrative of what they had experienced,” Williams said.
Williams said the indictment proves that no one is above the law, “no matter how powerful or wealthy or famous you may be.”
“A year ago, Sean Combs stood in Times Square and was handed a key to New York City,” Williams added. “Today, he’s been indicted and will face justice in the Southern District of New York.”
Prosecutors filed a 16-page detention letter asking that Combs be held without bail. According to the letter, Combs and a coconspirator kidnapped someone at gunpoint in 2011, and later set fire to another person’s convertible using a Molotov cocktail.
The government also argued that Combs poses a flight risk, given his tremendous wealth and connections.
“In short, if the defendant wanted to flee, he has the money, manpower, and tools to do so quickly and without detection,” prosecutors state. “The defendant’s lack of access to his passport or private jet would not negate the fact that the defendant could easily buy his way out of facing justice.”
Agnifilo said in a statement after his client’s arrest at a New York hotel on Monday evening, “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,” the statement reads. “Sean ‘Diddy’ 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 he is not a criminal. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
His arrest and arraignment took place amid an ongoing federal investigation that saw his homes searched by Homeland Security in March and a wave of lawsuits, most of which accuse him of sexual assault. Recently, former Danity Kane member Dawn Richard filed a suit against Combs on Sept. 10, alleging verbal abuse, assault, sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
In May, CNN posted a 2016 video of Combs attacking his then-girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie Ventura. The footage matches allegations made in a lawsuit filed by Ventura in November last year, which outlines an incident that occurred at the now-shuttered InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles and was the first in the series of recent lawsuits against him. (The two parties reached a settlement one day after the suit was filed on Nov. 16, 2023, in New York.) Ventura’s Combs apologized for his behavior in the video, saying on Instagram, “It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you gotta do that. I was fucked up. I mean, I hit rock bottom. But I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in this video. They’re disgusting. I was disgusted then when I did it, I’m disgusted now. I went and I sought professional help. I’ve been going to therapy, going to rehab. I had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry, but I’m committed to being a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I am truly sorry.”
Multiple women have filed lawsuits against Combs since Ventura’s last November. That month, Combs was hit with a second lawsuit by Joi Dickerson-Neal, who alleged that Combs “drugged, sexually assaulted and abused” her and that she was the victim of “revenge porn” created and distributed by the rapper. Then in December, a lawsuit filed by a Jane Doe alleged that Combs and R&B singer Aaron Hall took turns raping her and her friends at Hall’s apartment sometime between 1990 and 1991. Combs has denied the allegations made in these various lawsuits.
In March, properties owned by Combs located in Miami and Los Angeles were raided by Homeland Security as part of a sex trafficking investigation, with HSI confirming their search and seizure via a statement: “Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our local law enforcement partners.”
Combs’ attorney Aaron Dyer issued a statement regarding the searches, calling them an “unprecedented ambush” and a “witch hunt.”
“Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences,” Dyer said at the time. “There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated. … Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”
