Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs faces charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. Read the indictment

Sean “Diddy” Combs used his fame as one of hip-hop’s biggest names to coerce women into degrading sex acts as part of a decades-long sex trafficking and racketeering scheme, according to an unsealed three-count federal indictment. on Tuesday.

Beginning in 2009, Combs used his vast media empire including his Bad Boy Entertainment record label to transport women, as well as male sex workers, across state lines to participate in taped sex shows called “Freak Offs” for music moguls to watch. and masturbation, prosecutors said.

The 54-year-old rapper and producer was arrested in Manhattan on Monday night and is expected to appear in court before US Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky at 2:30 pm EDT (1830 GMT) on Tuesday. Combs could face decades in prison if convicted of the three felony counts he faces: racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution.

The charges were brought by Manhattan Attorney General Damian Williams’ office, which sought to keep Combs in custody pending trial.

Combs enticed the women by offering them drugs such as ketamine and ecstasy, financial support, or promises of career support or romantic relationships, prosecutors said. Combs then used surreptitious recordings of sex acts as “guarantees” to ensure the women would remain silent, and sometimes displayed weapons to intimidate abuse victims and witnesses, according to the indictment.

“The victims did not believe they could resist Combs without risking their safety or facing more abuse,” Williams told a press conference.

The indictment does not contain allegations that Combs himself directly engaged in unwanted sexual contact with women, although he is accused of assaulting women by punching or throwing objects.

Download the full indictment.

Marc Agnifilo, an attorney for Combs, did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the indictment was made public, but on Monday night expressed his disappointment with the decision to pursue his client’s “unfair” prosecution.

“Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent 30 years building an empire, serving his children, and working to uplift the Black community,” Agnifilo said. Monday night. “He’s an imperfect man, but he’s not a criminal.”

Combs is the highest-profile person in the music industry to face criminal charges for sexual misconduct since R. Kelly, the R&B singer. Kelly was sentenced to a combined 31 years in prison after being convicted in New York in 2021 and Chicago in 2022 on charges including sex trafficking, racketeering and child sex crimes.

Also known during his career as P. Diddy and Puff Daddy, Combs founded Bad Boy Records and is credited with helping rappers and R&B singers such as Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, Notorious BIG and Usher rise to stardom in the 1990s and 2000s. .

His career and reputation have been in tatters over the past year. Last November, his ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura, an R&B singer known as Cassie, accused him in a lawsuit of serial physical abuse, sexual slavery and rape during a decade-long relationship. He agreed to an undisclosed settlement a day after being charged, although Combs denied the allegations.

Combs has since faced several other civil lawsuits by women and men who accuse him of sexual assault and other wrongdoing. His lawyers have been fighting the case in court. Federal agents raided Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami Beach, Florida six months ago.

Marc Agnifilo, an attorney for Combs, did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the indictment was made public, but on Monday night expressed his disappointment with the decision to pursue his client’s “unfair” prosecution.

“Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent 30 years building an empire, serving his children, and working to uplift the Black community,” Agnifilo said. Monday night. “He’s an imperfect man, but he’s not a criminal.”

Combs is the highest-profile person in the music industry to face criminal charges for sexual misconduct since R. Kelly, the R&B singer. Kelly was sentenced to a combined 31 years in prison after being convicted in New York in 2021 and Chicago in 2022 on charges including sex trafficking, racketeering and child sex crimes.

Also known during his career as P. Diddy and Puff Daddy, Combs founded Bad Boy Records and is credited with helping rappers and R&B singers such as Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, Notorious BIG and Usher rise to stardom in the 1990s and 2000s. .

His career and reputation have been in tatters over the past year. Last November, his ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura, an R&B singer known as Cassie, accused him in a lawsuit of serial physical abuse, sexual slavery and rape during their decade-long relationship. He agreed to an undisclosed settlement a day after being charged, although Combs denied the allegations.

Combs has since faced several other civil lawsuits by women and men who accuse him of sexual assault and other wrongdoing. His lawyers have been fighting the case in court. Federal agents raided Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami Beach, Florida six months ago.

Combs’ employees helped organize the “Freak Offs” by booking hotel rooms and buying controlled substances and other items used during sex, according to the indictment.

Authorities found drugs and 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant during searches of Combs’ homes in Miami, Florida and Los Angeles, along with an AR-15 rifle with a defaced serial number, according to the indictment.

The indictment did not specify the number of women believed to be victims of the scheme.

The charges aren’t Combs’ first brush with the law. He was acquitted in March 2001 of bribery and weapons charges in a criminal trial for a nightclub shooting that left three people injured.

Civil lawsuits facing Combs include a case filed last week by singer Dawn Richard, formerly of Danity Kane, who accuses her of sexual assault, battery, sex trafficking, gender discrimination and fraud.

Also this month, a Michigan judge ordered Combs to pay the default judgment of $100 million to Derrick Lee Smith, who said Combs drugged and assaulted him at a party nearly 30 years ago. An attorney for Combs said he will seek to have it dismissed.

Combs also denied claims in a February sex-trafficking lawsuit by Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, who Combs worked with as a producer on the 2023 release of “Love Album: Off the Grid.”