Sean 'Diddy' Combs makes fresh bid for bail in sex trafficking and conspiracy case

NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers Sean “Diddy Combs Wednesday asked a judge to wait for him Prosecution of sex trafficking In his luxury home on an island near Miami Beach instead of a grim federal prison in Brooklyn.

Combs' lawyers offered a $50 million bail package — using his mansion as collateral — in exchange for him being placed under house arrest with GPS monitoring. A hearing on the application was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. A U.S. Magistrate Judge in Manhattan ordered Combs held without bail on Tuesday.

The hip-hop mogul whose career blossomed in the 1990s was arrested Monday on a charge of The indictment charges Combs of use His “Power and Prestige” “Sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for the purpose of prostitution, drug crimes, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.”

It describes female victims and male sex workers indulging in drugged, elaborately produced sexual performances called “freak offs” that Combs arranges, directs, masturbates, and often records. The events can sometimes last and require IVs to recover from, the complaint states.

it is Allegedly, he used to forcibly torture women Over the years he used blackmail, including videos he shot, and heinous acts of violence to keep his victims in line, coordinated and facilitated from the top down by a network of associates and employees.

Combs' attorney is Mark Agnifilo Judge Andrew L. on Wednesday. Coombs, 54, submitted a letter to Carter seeking the release of conditions that are not being considered, including house arrest with GPS monitoring, a ban on all visitors except family, property caretakers and friends. co-conspirators

Combs' home is on Star Island, a man-made land in Biscayne Bay, accessible only by a causeway or boat. It is one of the most expensive places to live in the United States. Combs' request echoes a long line of wealthy defendants who have offered to post multimillion-dollar bail in exchange House arrest in a luxurious environment.

“Sean Coombs has never shirked, evaded, evaded or run away from any challenge in his life,” the defense said in court filings. “He won't start now.”

Combs was expected to restate his not guilty plea at his initial appearance before Carter.

So far, prosecutors have successfully argued that he is a danger to the community and a flight risk and should be held in prison pending trial.

For all the revelations that came with Tuesday's unsealing of the indictment, much of it was outlined in a November lawsuit filed by his ex-longtime girlfriend and guardian, R&B singer Cassiewhose legal name is Cassandra Ventura. The case was settled the next day, but its allegations have followed Combs.

Descriptions of beatings, sexual assaults, silencing tactics and “freak offs” were echoed throughout the criminal complaint, though it did not use her name or that of any other woman.

Agnifilo, without mentioning Ventura by name, argued at Tuesday's arraignment that the entire criminal case was the result of a long-term, volatile-but-consensual relationship that crumbled into mistrust.

Agnifilo claimed that “freak offs” were extensions of that relationship, and not forced.

“Is this sex trafficking?” Agniphilo asked. “If not everyone wants to be there.”

Prosecutors, however, have expanded the scope. They said in court papers that they have interviewed more than 50 victims and witnesses and expect the number to rise.

Like many older hip-hop figures — with whom he beefed with the infamous BIG in the 1990s bicoastal rap feud — Bad Boy Records founder Combs established a gentler, more worldly public image. The father of seven was a respected international businessman, whose annual “white party” in the Hamptons was once a must-see for the jet-setting elite.

But prosecutors say he used the same companies, people and methods to build his business and cultural power to facilitate his crimes. They said they would prove it with financial, travel and billing records, electronic data and communications and videos of “freak offs” to prove their case.

The AP typically does not name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Ventura did.

There was a comb The arrest was made late Monday night At a Manhattan hotel nearly six months after federal authorities raided his luxurious home in Los Angeles and Miami and disclosed that they were conducting a sex-trafficking investigation.

During the search, law enforcement seized narcotics, videos of “freak offs” and 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant, according to prosecutors. They said agents seized firearms and ammunition, including three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers.

The complaint depicts Combs as so violent that he inflicted injuries that often took days or weeks to heal. His employees and associates sometimes witnessed his violence and tried to track them down or kept the victims from tracking them, the complaint said.

Each charge carries a mandatory sentence of 15 years in prison with the possibility of life in prison if convicted.

Combs and his attorneys have denied similar allegations made by others in a string of lawsuits filed after Ventura.

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Dalton reports from Los Angeles.