Sean Combs’ request to overturn a prior ruling denying him release on bail has been turned down, a court has ruled.
U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter on Wednesday ordered Combs, also known as “Diddy,” to remain detained after he pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering charges. He will stay at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where an inmate was murdered while awaiting trial this summer.
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“I find that the government has carried its burden of persuasion,” Carter said. He found that Combs could attempt to illegally tamper with the case, continues to present a safety risk to others and may decide to flee to escape prosecution.
This came after the government unsealed a three-county indictment accusing Combs of crimes related to an alleged decades-long pattern of physical and sexual violence against people in his orbit. Federal prosecutors charged him with sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy for directing a vast criminal enterprise through which he assaulted and trafficked women with the help of his various business associates from at least 2008. He was also charged with transportation to engage in prostitution.
If convicted, Combs, 54, faces a mandatory minimum term of 15 years in prison and maximum sentence of imprisonment for life. He attended the hearing in a black t-shirt with members of his family in the gallery behind him.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky on Tuesday ordered his continued detainment until trial, saying, “My concern is that this is a crime that happens behind closed doors.” She cited the power imbalance between Combs and his alleged victims.
Combs had sought release on a $50 million bond, secured by equity in his Miami residence and that of his mother. His attorney, Marc Agnifilo, had suggested home detention with GPS monitoring.
In addition to those terms, Combs’ attorney had also proposed taking away his phones and access to the internet and having a private security company stationed at Combs’ residence in Florida to monitor him.
He further proposed restricting visitors to his adjoining Florida homes to family, property caretakers and friends who’re not considered co-conspirators to the alleged criminal enterprise. The only female visitors to his own home would be family or the mothers of his children, he added, but Agnifilo said the court could also approve the overall list of visitors. Combs also pledged not to contact grand jury witnesses, undergo weekly drug testing and provide a visitors log.
“This combination of conditions will reasonably assure Mr. Combs’ appearance in Court and protect the Government’s and the Magistrate Judge’s stated concerns with respect to the safety of the community,” Agnifilo wrote in a Wednesday filing.
The decision to detain Combs while he awaits trial largely swung on whether he continues to pose a safety risk and will return to court for further proceedings.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Carter pointed to a video that showed Combs in 2016 assaulting Casandra Ventura in a hotel.
Agnifilo, who said that Combs has since sought treatment for drug and alcohol addiction, portrayed the incident as a domestic dispute between partners unrelated to the sex trafficking charge.
“What’s love got to do with that?” Carter replied, citing violence depicted in the video that he said is “quite disturbing.”
The government has argued that Combs tried to interfere in the prosecution by reaching out to witnesses, including one who received a grand jury subpoena, and victims. Recently, Combs and his associates allegedly contacted potential witnesses in the investigation and directed them to lie in an attempt to conceal his alleged crimes. During one of the calls, which took place just three days after he was sued by Ventura last year, the mogul reportedly asked for the victim’s “friendship” and told her she “ain’t got to worry about nothing else” if she went along with his version of events.
In response, Combs claimed the conduct doesn’t constitute obstruction of justice since he’s entitled to query witnesses to defend himself.
“As part of that defense, he, with counsel’s blessing, has called potential defense witnesses to let them know that counsel would reach out to speak with them,” Combs stated in a letter to the court. “Tellingly, the Government does not point to—nor can they—any conversation Mr. Combs has had with a potential witness since he had knowledge of the criminal investigation where he pressured any witness to change their story.”
Replying to arguments that he could decide to flee, Combs stressed that his sons, mother and sister, among others, signed onto his proposed bond as assurance that he’ll return to court and that his passport had been taken by his lawyer, as had the passports of his family members.
In a press conference after the hearing, Agnifilo said he wants to get the case to trial as soon as possible, but that his team is “considering our next steps” following the bail denial.
“He believes he’s innocent. I believe he’s innocent,” Agnifilo said of the case.
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