Sean “Diddy” Combs will remain behind bars after a federal judge ordered the music mogul to remain in federal custody as he awaits trial after his arrest this week.
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Combs was arrested Monday by federal agents on multiple charges, including racketeering and sex trafficking. The indictment, unsealed Tuesday, accuses Combs of using his lifestyle, media and music companies to help orchestrate a widespread criminal enterprise. He was first denied bail Tuesday and kept in federal custody, where he will await trial. Combs had denied any wrongdoing.
The arrest comes almost one year after the first of 10 sexual assault lawsuits was filed against Combs, with the accusations spanning his 30-year career. On Wednesday, a judge reportedly tossed out a $100 million default judgment awarded to an inmate who had accused Combs of sexual assault.
“The fight continues. We’re not giving up by a long shot,” Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ attorney, told reporters after the decision to hold Combs in jail.
Attorneys for Combs in the federal case argued in court Wednesday that the music producer should be allowed to return to his home where he could be monitored by a third-party security company. But U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr. said that the proposal was insufficient and that Combs should remain in custody as he awaits trial.
If convicted, Combs faces a maximum sentence of life in prison on the charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion. The sex trafficking charge has a mandatory minimum 15-year prison sentence. The third charge, transportation for purposes of prostitution, carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.
On Wednesday, Combs’s attorneys proposed in court and in a letter to Judge Carter that Combs would submit to weekly drug testing and limit any women (except for family members) from visiting him if he were released. In their proposal, Combs would not have any contact with anyone deemed as witnesses in the case and would restrict his travel between Florida and New York. His attorney, Agnifilo, told the judge they would hire a private security company to monitor his communications. Combs would also surrender use of a cellphone and internet.
The bail package submitted by Combs and his attorneys included a $50 million bond secured by equity from Combs’s and his mother’s Miami homes.
But Judge Carter said the proposal “does not give the Court reasonable assurance that he would return to court,” and that he was also worried about Combs’s opportunity to witness tamper if he’s free on a bond. He said that the around-the-clock security would not be sufficient because employees would still come and go from the house, and he’d still be capable potentially of sending coded messages.
The decision on Wednesday came about 24 hours after the first bail hearing on Tuesday. At that hearing, Combs’s attorneys said the music mogul was “eminently trustworthy” and had looked to show his innocence and cooperation by flying to New York voluntarily and offering to turn himself in. Prosecutors contested that Combs was a flight risk and should stay detained.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky ultimately ruled Tuesday to keep Combs in detention because he was untrustworthy, and Combs’s accusers would be vulnerable to him and his influence.
Agnifilo told reporters on Wednesday he would push for a fast trial and would consider options to appeal the bail decision again. Legal experts said a trial isn’t expected to start until late 2025.
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