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Lawyers for Sean “Diddy” Combs asked a judge Friday for the third time to grant the hip-hop mogul $50 million bail, this time at 3rd Street in New York City’s Upper East Side. He argued that he should be kept under house arrest in his bedroom apartment. With 24 hour monitoring.
But federal prosecutors said Combs violated federal prison rules and was “not reliable” by contacting witnesses outside. They also claimed he was a “danger to others.”
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian postponed sentencing until next week.
Combs’ lawyers asked the judge to restrict Combs’ phone calls to his lawyer only, prohibit visits from anyone other than a few lawyers and designated family members, and require him to be held for 24 hours. He said he was proposing conditions that were “much more stringent” than those he would face. Security provided by an independent company and contact with witnesses or potential witnesses is prohibited. Previously, the defense had suggested Combs’ Miami mansion for home detention, but a judge rejected it Friday because it has a dock and access to water.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, extortion and transportation for the purpose of prostitution. He and his associates are accused of luring female victims, often under the guise of romantic relationships, and using force, threats, coercion and drugs to force them to have sex with male prostitutes. ” He has been in federal custody for more than 60 days since his arrest.
Federal prosecutors reiterated their opposition to granting bail, accusing Combs of tampering with witnesses and attempting to influence potential jurors.
Prosecutors allege that Combs ignored communication and phone rules and orchestrated contact with witnesses at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he was being held, in order to get out of the case with false testimony. said. Prosecutors said he was a “danger to others” who only needed to contact one juror.
A judge told prosecutors that Mr. Combs was free on bail when Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries, who was charged with sex trafficking and a prostitution operation, could have been released on $10 million bail. He asked them to explain why they were not able to get the money.
Combs’ attorneys pointed out that Jeffries allegedly paid for dozens of men to travel within the United States and abroad to meet with him and his co-defendants to engage in commercial sex acts. The government agreed to hold Mr. Jeffries in home detention, although he is also accused of using a security company to monitor and intimidate witnesses who threatened to expose his wrongdoings.
But federal prosecutors argued in a two-page letter to the court and judges that the cases are substantively different for multiple reasons. Jeffries is accused of using force, fraud and coercion to induce men to engage in non-consensual sex acts, but he is not facing additional charges related to extortion, firearms and violence, as Combs is.
Combs is accused of leading a company that engaged in a persistent pattern of extortion between 2008 and 2024, including co-conspirators who engaged in kidnapping, arson, and forced labor.
Prosecutors told the judge that Combs’ criminal activities, along with those of NXIVM leaders Keith Raniere, Larry Ray and R. The case is said to be similar to a sex crime case.
Combs’ lawyers also argued that the government distorted the infamous surveillance video of Combs assaulting his then-girlfriend, Cassandra “Kathy” Ventura, at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles. Prosecutors said they used the version that first aired on CNN because they didn’t want Combs or his attorneys to retaliate by identifying the source of the video.
The judge gave prosecutors and Combs’ attorneys until Monday to submit information about Combs’ communications from jail, the latest impasse in the case, before making a bail decision.
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