Sean 'Diddy' Combs held without bail after being charged with racketeering, sex trafficking
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Sean "Diddy" Combs was held without bail Tuesday after being charged with racketeering conspiracy, for allegedly running an enterprise that he engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor or, kidnapping, arson and other crimes.
He was also charged with sex trafficking by force and transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs has pleaded not guilty.
The music mogul was arrested late Monday in Manhattan, roughly six months after federal authorities conducting a sex trafficking investigation raided his luxurious homes in Los Angeles and Miami.
The indictment detailing the charges was unsealed Tuesday morning. According to the indictment, "Combs abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct."
Combs, 54, relied on employees, resources and influence of his multi-faceted business empire to create "a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice," the indictment said.
Diddy allegedly controlled women by plying them with drugs, withholding financial support and resorting to violence, allegations that mirror 11 civil complaints filed against him since 2023.
Federal prosecutors sought pretrial detention, calling him an "extreme danger" to the community.
"The defendant, Sean Combs, physically and sexually abused victims for decades," assistant U.S. attorney Emily Johnson said. "He is a serial abuser and a serial obstructer."
Prosecutors have interviewed at least a dozen witnesses who could testify to seeing women injured as a result of violence Combs inflicted, Johnson said.
Combs did not appear to react as prosecutors described his "longstanding pattern of abuse" including premeditated and spontaneous violence to keep young women participating in his Freak Offs.
Combs "knew this was coming," his attorney said Tuesday as he entered federal court.
"We brought him to New York two weeks ago because sure we knew this day would come and it's here," the attorney, Marc Agnifilo said.
Diddy's spirits are good, Agnifilo said. "He's dealing with this head on the way he has dealt with every challenge in his life."
He said Diddy has anticipated federal charges ever since the March raids on his homes in Florida and California by federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations.
Over the past year, Combs has been sued by people who say he subjected them to physical or sexual abuse. He has denied many of those allegations and Agnifilo called the new indictment an "unjust prosecution."
"He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal," Agnifilo said in a statement late Monday.
The attorney said Combs voluntarily moved to New York two weeks ago, anticipating the indictment. He said they had planned to surrender to federal prosecutors before Combs was arrested outside the Park Hyatt hotel in Midtown.
At court on Tuesday, Judge Robyn Tarnofsky ordered Combs detained pending trial, saying, "My concern is that this is a crime that happens behind closed doors."
The judge noted the "power imbalance" between Combs and the alleged victims, and she mentioned Combs' alleged drug use and violence.
Federal prosecutors wanted Combs detained, arguing in a letter to the judge that he's "dangerous" and poses an ongoing threat to the community.
"The defendant also poses a significant risk of obstructing justice," prosecutors said. "During the course of the charged conduct, the defendant has attempted to bribe security staff and threatened and interfered with witnesses to his criminal conduct. He has already tried to obstruct the Government's investigation of this case, repeatedly contacting victims and witnesses and feeding them false narratives of events."
"There are simply no conditions that would ensure that the defendant's efforts to obstruct and tamper with witnesses will stop," prosecutors said.
Agnifilo had urged the judge to release Combs on a $50 million bail package, saying his client is not the flight risk prosecutors portrayed. The lawyer said Combs arrived in New York on Sept. 5 and "came here to face it."
Agnifilo said Combs is trying to sell his private plane. Agnifilo said he took possession of his client's passport and those of five of his relatives.
During an evening press conference, Agnifilo said they will try again for pre-trial release on bail.
"We're appealing the decision to hold him without bail," Agnifilo said.
The bail appeal hearing is set for Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. before the district judge who will preside over the case. For now, Combs will spend the night in federal custody.
Combs was recognized as one of the most influential figures in hip-hop before a flood of allegations that emerged over the past year turned him into an industry pariah.
In November, his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, filed a lawsuit saying he had beaten and raped her for years. She accused Combs of coercing her, and others, into unwanted sex in drug-fueled settings.
The suit was settled in one day but months later CNN aired hotel security footage showing Combs punching and kicking Cassie and throwing her on a floor. After the video aired, Combs apologized, saying, "I was disgusted when I did it."
Combs and his attorneys, however, denied similar allegations made by others in a string of lawsuits.
Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer for Cassie, said in a statement Tuesday that "neither Ms. Ventura nor I have any comment."
"We appreciate your understanding and if that changes, we will certainly let you know," he added.
A woman said Combs raped her two decades ago when she was 17. A music producer sued, saying Combs forced him to have sex with prostitutes. Another woman, April Lampros, said Combs subjected her to "terrifying sexual encounters," starting when she was a college student in 1994.
Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, has gotten out of legal trouble before.
In 2001, he was acquitted of charges related to a Manhattan nightclub shooting two years earlier that injured three people. His then-protege, Shyne, was convicted of assault and other charges and served about eight years in prison.
(ABC News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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