NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs According to indictments unsealed Tuesday, he ran a sordid empire of sex crimes, coercing and abusing women for years, and using blackmail and shocking acts of violence to keep his victims under control.
Prosecutors called the music titan “dangerous” and urged him to be held without bail after guns were found at his home in what they said was an attempt to intimidate witnesses.
The racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking indictments accused Combs of inducing female victims and male sex workers to take drugs and engage in sexual activity, sometimes over multiple days, in what were called “freak offs.”
It also indirectly mentions the attack on his ex-girlfriend. R&B singer CassieWhich was captured in the video.
He is accused of attacking women, dragging them, throwing objects at them and kicking them – and he used his personal assistants, security and domestic staff to cover it all up.
“The evidence in this case is incredibly powerful,” prosecutors said in a document seeking custody of Combs. They said they have interviewed more than 50 victims and witnesses and expect that number to grow and will use financial, travel and billing records, electronic data and communications and videos of “freak offs” to prove their case.
Combs' attorney, Mark Agnifilo, said outside court Tuesday that he would fight to keep him free, and that Combs is innocent and will maintain his innocence.
“His morale is good. He's full of confidence,” the lawyer said, adding that Combs had voluntarily come to New York “to get involved with the court system and start a case.”
Combs was arrested late monday night in Manhattan, nearly six months after federal authorities began investigating sex trafficking raided their luxurious homes in Los Angeles and Miami. He was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday afternoon, and his three sons arrived at the courthouse Tuesday morning to observe him.
A conviction on each charge in the indictment would carry a mandatory 15 years in prison, with the possibility of life imprisonment.
Speaking with reporters while on his way to court, Sean “Diddy” Combs' attorney, Marc Agnifilo, said he knew this day would come.
The indictment accuses Combs, the 54-year-old founder of Bad Boy Records, of heading a criminal enterprise that engaged in or attempted to commit sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation of prostitutes, drug crimes, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.
The indictment said Combs and his associates used their “power and prestige” to intimidate and influence women, “often under the pretext of a romantic relationship.”
It says he would then use force, threats and coercion to get the women to engage in “freak offs” with male sex workers — “elaborate and staged sexual performances” that Combs would organize, direct, masturbate during and often record, producing dozens of videos.
According to the indictment, he sometimes arranged for the women to be flown in and ensured their participation by purchasing and providing drugs, controlling their careers, leveraging his financial support and using threats and violence.
The indictment says the incidents could last for days, and Combs and the victims were often given IV fluids to recover from fatigue and drug use.
It said his staff facilitated the “freak offs” by arranging travel, booking hotel rooms, stocking up on supplies such as medications and baby oil, scheduling the delivery of IV fluids and cleaning the rooms afterward.
During searches of Combs' homes in Miami and Los Angeles this year, law enforcement seized narcotics, videos of “freak offs” and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant, according to prosecutors. They said agents also seized firearms and ammunition, including three AR-15s with serial numbers scrawled on them — two of them broken in his bedroom closet in Miami.
The indictment depicts Combs as a violent man who choked and pushed people, hit and kicked victims and sometimes dragged them by their hair, leaving injuries that often took days or weeks to heal. His employees and associates sometimes witnessed his violence and would prevent victims from leaving or detain those who tried to do so, the indictment says.
It alleges that Combs sometimes kept videos of the victims engaging in sexual activity and used the recordings as “collateral” to ensure the women's continued obedience and silence. He also exerted control over the victims by promising career opportunities, providing financial support and threatening to withhold it, controlling how they looked, monitoring their health records and controlling their living space, according to the indictment.
In a court filing, prosecutors accused Combs and an unnamed co-conspirator of kidnapping a man at gunpoint a few days before Christmas in 2011 in order to burglarize another man's home. Two weeks later, Combs cut the roof off a man's vehicle and poured a Molotov cocktail into it and set it on fire, they wrote.
Prosecutors allege all of this was happening behind the facade of Combs’ global music, lifestyle and clothing business.
“One year ago, Sean Combs stood in Times Square and was handed the keys to New York City. Today, he has been indicted and will face justice,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said at a news conference Tuesday, adding that his office is pursuing the case.
Comb returned the key It was returned in June after Mayor Eric Adams asked for it back.
Combs was considered one of hip-hop's most influential figures before a flood of allegations surfaced last year.
The indictment alleges that when the threat of criminal charges loomed, Combs and his associates pressured witnesses and victims to remain silent, offering bribes and telling false stories about the incident.
Prosecutors said Combs had nearly $1 billion in assets, a private plane and international connections that enabled him to flee.
“The defendant can easily avoid facing justice,” he wrote.
In November, Cassie, whose legal name is Cassandra Ventura, filed a suit She said he assaulted and raped her for yearsShe accused Combs of forcing her and others to perform unwanted sexual advances in a drug-influenced environment.
It was a suit same day settlementBut months later, CNN aired hotel security footage that showed Combs Punching and kicking Ventura and threw her on the floor. After the video was circulated, Combs apologized“I felt disgusted when I did that,” he said.
The indictment mentions the attack without naming Ventura, and says Combs tried to bribe a hotel security guard to keep quiet about it.
Ventura's attorney, Douglas Wigdor, declined to comment Tuesday.
Combs and his attorneys denied similar allegations made by others in multiple lawsuits.
a woman said Combs raped her two decades ago when she was 17. A music producer filed a lawsuit, saying Combs forced her to have sex with prostitutes. Another woman, April Lampros, She said Combs had a “horrific sexual relationship” with her, which began in 1994 when she was a college student.
The AP generally does not name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Ventura and Lampros did.
Combs has been in legal trouble before. In 2001, he was acquitted of weapons charges related to a shooting at a Manhattan nightclub two years earlier that injured three people.
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This story has been corrected to show that Combs is 54, not 58.