Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, accused of sex trafficking, may face superseding indictment, prosecutor says
Federal prosecutors revealed on Thursday that Sean “Diddy” Combs may face a superseding indictment that would open the door to more charges for the hip-hop mogul beyond the sex trafficking, transportation for prostitution, and racketeering counts he’s already facing.
The revelation from a federal prosecutor that the criminal case against the 54-year-old music icon could expand came as he made his first appearance in court and a federal judge set a trial date for May 5.
But as the hearing began, Combs was all smiles as he entered the courtroom in a tan jail-issued shirt and pants. His mother and his children sat behind him.
In a sprawling indictment unsealed last month, federal prosecutors allege the founder of Bad Boy Entertainment for decades used his empire to coerce his victims into sex in gatherings known as “freak-offs.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs was the only defendant indicted this week in a sweeping sex trafficking and racketeering investigation. But federal prosecutors made clear that they do not believe he was the only one responsible. Is the indictment just the beginning of a larger case against alleged conspirators?
Combs was arrested in September after nearly a year of investigating by federal authorities. The day after his arrest, prosecutors unsealed a grand jury indictment. He has pleaded not guilty and denies the charges, and his lawyers said they are seeking a speedy trial.
U.S. District Court Judge Arun Subramanian approved a May 5 trial date for Combs over April after his attorneys said they have piles of case documents and information to review.
Subramanian then asked the prosecution how long the trial would last.
Asst. U.S. Atty Emily Johnson initially said three weeks, but then cautioned that there could be a superseding indictment on the horizon. Superseding indictments can include additional charges, more defendants, or both.
For decades, Sean “Diddy” Combs promoted himself as one of the godfathers of hip-hop, a celebrity who transformed the genre and became a business estimated to top a billion dollars.
Marc Agnifilio, Combs’ lead attorney, said he believed the defense would take a week to make their case in a trial.
Agnifilio then asked the judge to gag federal authorities from leaking to the media about the case, a charge he raised in a court filing Wednesday.
In the filing, Agnifilio wrote that the government, through Department of Homeland Security investigators, “engaged in a seven-month campaign ... strategically leaking confidential grand jury material and information, including the 2016 Intercontinental videotape, in order to prejudice the public and potential jurors against Mr. Combs.”
Combs’ attorneys sought to exclude evidence they said was leaked, such as a 2016 video showing Combs assaulting singer Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura, his former girlfriend, in a hotel hallway.
Johnson countered Agnifilio’s request wasn’t about a gag order but was instead a move to exclude damning evidence, seemingly referencing the video without mentioning it specifically.
The video, obtained and published by CNN in March, shows Combs chasing Cassie down a hall of the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles, kicking her, striking her and throwing a vase at her before dragging her back to the door of a room. The footage, which quickly went viral, confirmed at least some of the physical abuse allegations against the singer detailed in a lawsuit filed in November of last year.
Both prosecutors and Combs’ attorneys Thursday agreed not to speak to the media without a gag order being imposed.
The judge gave prosecutors until the end of the year to turn over evidence gathered in the case to the defense after prosecutors revealed they seized 96 devices when they searched him. Prosecutors searched Combs at a Florida airport and his homes in Los Angeles and Miami in March, and seized the phone he was carrying when he was arrested last month.
The ‘voluminous’ amount of data taken in the sweeping sex abuse and racketeering case comes as Combs’ lawyers make a third bid to get him released from jail.
Johnson said prosecutors expect to extract data from the devices in the next 30 days, but current technology and encryption, along with some of the devices being older or damaged, are making that harder.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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