Sean “Diddy” Combs has been charged with intercourse trafficking and racketeering for guiding an unlimited prison enterprise by way of which he assaulted and trafficked girls with the assistance of his varied companies from no less than 2008.
Federal prosecutors, in an indictment unsealed on Tuesday, accused the music mogul of partaking in a “pervasive sample of abuse” that included assaulting and arranging compelled sexual encounters with girls.
For many years, Combs “abused, threatened, and coerced girls and others round him to satisfy his sexual needs, defend his popularity, and conceal his conduct,” the indictment acknowledged. The intercourse trafficking allegations revolve round claims that he “manipulated girls to take part in extremely orchestrated performances of sexual exercise with male business intercourse employees,” who had been usually flown in throughout state strains and internationally.
“To hold out this conduct, Sean Combs led and took part in a racketeering conspiracy that used the enterprise empire he managed to hold out prison exercise, together with intercourse trafficking, compelled labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery and the obstruction of justice,” mentioned Damian Williams, the U.S. Legal professional for the Southern District of New York, in a press convention saying the costs.
Combs is about to seem in courtroom Tuesday morning after a late-night arrest the prior evening following in a federal grand jury indictment. His lawyer Marc Agnifilo mentioned outdoors the courthouse that Combs will plead not responsible to expenses of racketeering, intercourse trafficking and transportation to have interaction in prostitution, based on the Related Press.
Prosecutors will oppose Combs being launched on bail, Williams mentioned.
In an announcement after Combs was arrested, Agnifilo mentioned the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace is pursuing an “unjust prosecution.” He added that Combs, who relocated to New York final week in anticipation of being charged, has cooperated within the investigation. “Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving household man, and confirmed philanthropist who has spent the final 30 years constructing an empire, adoring his youngsters, and dealing to uplift the Black group,” Agnifilo, a former federal and state prosecutor, mentioned. “He’s an imperfect individual, however he’s not a prison.”
Combs has been dealing with deepening authorized hassle, with federal regulation enforcement raiding his houses in March as a part of an investigation into human trafficking. A lawsuit filed final week from former bandmate Daybreak Richard, who accused him of sexual harassment and assault when she was a member of a musical trio with the hip-hop mogul, marked the tenth criticism introduced towards Combs since his former girlfriend Casandra Ventura filed a lawsuit towards him detailing years of bodily and sexual abuse. That motion rapidly settled however led to different accusers, together with Liza Gardner, Joi Dickerson-Neal and Crystal McKinney, bringing related complaints. Combs has denied the allegations and largely mentioned the accusers are searching for payouts.
These claims had been undermined when CNN in Could launched lodge safety footage of Combs assaulting Ventura. After, the rapper apologized and acknowledged he was “digusted once I did it,” although he continued to disclaim different allegations of assault.
The indictment particulars a sprawling prison enterprise comprised of Unhealthy Boy Leisure and the mogul’s varied different companies, which allegedly aided and hid his crimes. Prosecutors alleged they had been automobiles by way of which Combs engaged in crimes, together with acts of violence, intercourse trafficking, compelled labor, coercion to have interaction in prostitution and narcotics distribution.
The enterprise allegedly leveraged the status of Combs’ standing to “intimidate, threaten and lure feminine victims” into the mogul’s orbit, usually beneath the pretense of a romantic relationship, the indictment mentioned. Combs then compelled them to have interaction in prolonged intercourse acts with male prostitutes he known as “Freak Offs,” prosecutors alleged. In arranging these performances, which had been usually recorded, Combs and his associates transported intercourse employees throughout state strains and internationally.
Combs exerted management over his victims by way of bodily violence, guarantees of profession alternatives, threatening to withhold monetary help, controlling their housing and supplying them with medication, based on the indictment. “Victims believed they might not refuse Combs’ calls for with out risking their monetary or job safety or with out repercussions within the type of bodily or emotional abuse,” it acknowledged. “Combs additionally used the delicate, embarrassing, and incriminating recordings that he made throughout Freak Offs as collateral to make sure the continued obedience and silence of the victims.”
Prosecutors mentioned members of the prison enterprise included high-ranking supervisors of Combs’ companies, private assistants, safety and family employees who booked lodge rooms, equipped supplies for the compelled sexual encounters and organized journey for the intercourse employees and victims. At instances, they carried and brandished firearms to intimidate victims and witnesses, who had been in some cases required to remain in hiding to get better from accidents.
Requested whether or not Combs’ associates are beneath investigation, Williams acknowledged that the probe is “ongoing, each as to him and anybody else we consider dedicated the crimes with him.”
In March, regulation enforcement seized from Combs’ Miami and Los Angeles residences narcotics, greater than 1,000 bottles of lubricant and three AR-15 rifles with defaced serial numbers based on the indictment.
Combs operates a worldwide enterprise within the media, leisure and life-style industries, together with document labels, a recording studio, attire line, spirits enterprise, advertising and marketing company and a TV community. A number of of these corporations have been named in lawsuits accusing them of aiding his crimes. Final 12 months, he stepped down as chairman of Revolt amid sexual assault allegations. When the assault allegations first surfaced, Combs twice tried to intimidate and bribe witnesses into staying silent and instructed them to deceive regulation enforcement, prosecutors claimed.
The mogul, who has denied accusations of intercourse crimes, is anticipated to mount a sprawling protection. His lawyer Marc Agnifilo represented Keith Raniere, the founding father of NXIVM, on intercourse trafficking and racketeering expenses in a case introduced by the federal government. Agnifilo’s protection, like that of Harvey Weinstein and Danny Masterson in different high-profile prosecutions coping with intercourse crimes, revolved round arguments that the encounters had been all consensual. In 2019, a jury discovered Raniere responsible on all expenses.
