A federal judge denied bail to Sean “Diddy” Combs on Tuesday as he was arranged in court on racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky denied the 54-year-old rap icon’s request for bail after he offered to post a $50 million bond and wear a GPS ankle monitor to stay out of prison before trial.
Combs will be held by himself at the Special Housing Unit in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn due to additional protection that he needs as a celebrity, CNN reported. His legal team will appeal the ruling on Wednesday to U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Carter.
Tarnofsky said that none of the options available convinced her that Combs would appear in court if he was released. She added that part of her concern was that the crimes he is accused of are the kind that happen “behind closed doors, even when pretrial services is monitoring.”
Federal prosecutors unsealed a 14-page indictment against Combs on Tuesday morning that alleged that he “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”
Prosecutors said that Combs carried out this scheme by relying “on the employees, resources, and influence of the multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled—creating 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.”
Prosecutors say that in all times relevant to the indictment, Combs “engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse toward women and other individuals. This abuse was, at times, verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual.”
Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here!
The indictment made reference to a video that surfaced earlier this year of Combs beating his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a hotel back in 2016 — an incident that he admitted happened.
“On numerous occasions from at least in or about 2009 and continuing for years, Combs assaulted women by, among other things, striking, punching, dragging, throwing objects at, and kicking them,” the indictment said.
Prosecutors said that Diddy engaged in lengthy sex parties referred to as “Freak Offs” that could last days in which he or his associates lured women in under the guise of interest in a romantic relationship.
Combs then used “force, threats of force, and coercion, to cause victims to engage in extended sex acts with male commercial sex workers” during the events, prosecutors said. “In arranging these Freak Offs, COMBS, with the assistance of members and associates of the Combs Enterprise, transported, and caused to be transported, commercial sex workers across state lines and internationally.”
There was heavy drug use at the “Freak Offs,” which Combs allegedly recorded, sometimes without the women knowing.
“As alleged in the Indictment, for years, Sean Combs used the business empire he controlled to sexually abuse and exploit women, as well as to commit other acts of violence and obstruction of justice,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. “Today, he is charged with racketeering and sex trafficking offenses. If you have been a victim of Combs’ alleged abuse – or if you know anything about his alleged crimes – we urge you to come forward. This investigation is far from over.”
Combs was charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison; one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison; and one count of transportation for purposes of prostitution, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, according to the DOJ.
