September 17, 2024
Details of what federal prosecutors are charging Diddy with have been revealed.
Details of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ unsealed indictment were revealed during a press conference on the morning of Sept. 17.
Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, detailed some of the verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse Combs is accused of in the 14-page indictment. The disgraced hip-hop mogul’s charges include sex trafficking by force, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy.
When Combs didn’t “get his way, he was violent,” Williams said during the 18-minute news conference, as captured by ABC News. It’s alleged that the Bad Boy founder ran an “enterprise that he engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor or, kidnapping, arson and other crimes,” the indictment states.
Williams noted how, despite his power and wealth, Combs is not above the law.
“A year ago, Sean Combs stood in Times Square and was handed a key to New York City. Today, he’s been indicted and will face justice in the Southern District of New York,” he said.
Victims were allegedly controlled through “physical violence” and promises of career advancement, with Combs “granting and threatening to withhold financial support, and by other coercive means, including tracking their whereabouts, dictating the victims’ appearance, monitoring their medical records, controlling their housing, and supplying them with controlled substances.”
Much of the indictment includes details first revealed in Cassie Ventura’s 35-page federal complaint accusing Combs of sexual assault, battery, and sex trafficking, where she was forced to engage in sexual acts. The indictment references the 2016 hotel surveillance video in which federal prosecutors allege Combs was seen physically assaulting his former girlfriend, Cassie.
Williams said that when a hotel security worker intervened, Combs attempted to bribe them with a “stack of cash” to keep the incident quiet. The indictment also details Combs’ use of firearms to intimidate alleged victims. During raids of his home in Miami, police discovered three AR-15 rifles and a drum magazine, prosecutors said.
Combs was arrested on the night of Sept. 16 at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan and spent the night in federal custody. Hours after the arrest, his 14-page indictment was unsealed and released to the press.
Here’s the 14-page indictment against Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Three counts: racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution: https://t.co/gEoxkkKmUN pic.twitter.com/fAkHiVtyX2
Federal prosecutors are seeking to have Combs held in federal custody while awaiting trial, arguing in a letter to the judge that he is “dangerous” and poses a continuing 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 added.
Diddy’s lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, released a statement Tuesday morning claiming the “Missing You” rapper “knew this was coming.”
“We brought him to New York two weeks ago because, sure, we knew this day would come, and it’s here,” Agnifilo said. “He’s dealing with this head-on the way he has dealt with every challenge in his life.”
A full statement was released after his arrest on Monday.
“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. 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,” Agnifilo said.
“He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal,” he adds. “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.”
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