Sean (Diddy) Combs pleads not guilty to sex trafficking, racketeering charges
CBC
WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.
Sean (Diddy) Combs pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of presiding over a sordid empire of sexual crimes, coercing and abusing women for years while using blackmail and shocking acts of violence to keep his victims in line.
Charged with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, the music mogul is accused of inducing female victims and male sex workers into drugged-up, sometimes days long sexual performances dubbed "Freak Offs," prosecutors said. The indictment against him also refers obliquely to an attack on his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, that was captured on video.
Later Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky refused to grant Combs bail and ordered him to be jailed pending trial.
Combs took a long swig from a water bottle, then was led out of court without handcuffs. As he walked out, he turned toward family members in the audience.
"Mr. Combs is a fighter. He's going to fight this to the end. He's innocent," his lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said after court. As a start, he said he would appeal the bail decision.
The 54-year-old founder of Bad Boy Records is accused of striking, punching and dragging women, throwing objects and kicking them — and getting his personal assistants, security and household staff to help him hide it all.
"Not guilty," Combs told a court, standing to speak after listening to the allegations while showing little reaction, his uncuffed hands folded in his lap
Federal prosecutors called Combs dangerous and urged that he be jailed without bail.
"Mr. Combs physically and sexually abused victims for decades. He used the vast resources of his company to facilitate his abuse and cover up his crimes. Simply put, he is a serial abuser and a serial obstructor," Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson told a court. His lawyers, meanwhile, proposed in court papers that he be released on a $50 million US bond to home detention with electronic monitoring.
"He is not a perfect person. There has been drug use. He has been in toxic relationships," Agnifilo told the court. Earlier outside the court he said Combs came to New York voluntarily to "engage the court system and start the case."
Prosecutors said in court papers that they had interviewed more than 50 victims and witnesses and expect the number to grow. They said they would use financial, travel and billing records, electronic data and communications and videos of the Freak Offs to prove their case.
A conviction on every charge in the indictment would require a mandatory 15 years in prison with the possibility of a life sentence.
Agnifilo, however, argued that "the evidence in this case is extremely problematic."
