Sean Combs Faces Two New Charges in Indictment
While Sean Combs awaits the start of his trial, federal prosecutors on Thursday added two charges to his indictment – one count of sex trafficking and one count of transportation to engage in prostitution.
These allegations are in relation to one of three female victims who are included in the indictment. The former music mogul and Sean John founder was arrested in September and charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution in a three-count indictment that was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York. He plead not guilty and he has denied any wrongdoing. The initial filing alleged that Combs used his businesses to threaten and abuse women to fulfill his sexual desires.
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In the superseding indictment, which was filed in federal court Thursday, Combs is alleged to have used force, fraud or coercion to make a woman take part in commercial sex acts from at least 2021 to 2024. He is accused of transporting the woman — and other people, including commercial sex workers — to take part in prostitution, during that time frame.
In the latest court filing, Combs is facing allegations of sex trafficking three individuals and forcing a fourth, an employee, to engage in sexual acts with him.
'These are not new allegations or new accusers. These are the same individuals, former long-term girlfriends, who were involved in consensual relationships. This was their private sex life, defined by consent, not coercion,' attorneys for Combs said in a statement Friday afternoon.
The original indictment was also amended last month, alleging that Combs forced employees to work long hours and threatened anyone who did not help facilitate his sex trafficking enterprise. He is being detained in the same federal prison as Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare's chief executive officer Brian Thompson, and Sam Bankman-Fried, the crypto mogul convicted of fraud. Combs' trial is scheduled to start May 5.
The multi-Grammy winner is facing more than two dozen multiple lawsuits and accusations of rape, sexual assault and drugging some victims. His case has spawned various docuseries, podcasts and news specials, In February, Combs filed a $100 million lawsuit against NBCUniversal for the documentary 'Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy.' Three days later, a civil case against Combs and Jay-Z, which alleged they had raped a 13-year-old in 2000, was dismissed.
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Sean Combs Trial: Second Mistrial Motion, ‘Freak-Off' Audio and Peek Inside Mogul's Bank Accounts
The fourth week of Sean Combs' criminal trial brought the second alleged sex trafficking victim of Combs to the stand, a heartbroken woman who testified pseudonymously as 'Jane.' Prosecutors have said they consider Jane a victim of sex trafficking by fraud, pointing to the single mother's repeated testimony that she continued to have sex with male escorts in front of Combs because she loved him and was desperate for one-on-one time with the hip-hop mogul. More from Rolling Stone Sean Combs' Ex Leaves Stand Sobbing After Recounting 'Robotic' Birthday Freak-Off Sean Combs Is No Longer Allowed to Nod at the Jury Sean Combs' Alleged Victim Says First 'Freak-Off' Opened 'Pandora's Box' However, Jane claimed that once she opened 'Pandora's box' in May 2021 by engaging in a 'freak-off,' she was unable to shut off that aspect of their relationship, which became dominated by what she knew as 'hotel nights.' Although Jane said she tried telling Combs how she felt, both verbally and over text, the Bad Boy founder was dismissive and allegedly began lording his financial support over her head. 'Well, get over it please,' Combs, who paid for Jane's veneers, responded after she pushed back on a 'all-star' night that would involve having sex with three men in August 2023. 'Look at the roof over your head. And that pretty smile. I don't want to do anything if that's still an issue. Let it go. Love you.' The 55-year-old sat largely unfazed throughout Jane's testimony, as she cried recounting 24-hour days spent in red-hued hotel rooms having sex with male escorts for Combs' sexual gratification. He was already warned by U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian about his reactions after he was caught 'nodding vigorously' at jurors during the cross-examination of witness Bryana 'Bana' Bongoloan as defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland poked holes in her timeline of events. Combs is facing 15 years to life in prison if convicted of the five federal charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution against him. He has pleaded not guilty. Here are the main highlights from the trial's fourth week: A woman named Jane testified on Thursday and Friday, the single mother using a pseudonym to protect her identity. Considered Victim-2 in the Southern District of New York's sex trafficking and racketeering case against Combs, prosecutors kept much of Jane's experience under wraps until she took the stand. Jane frequently cried as she alleged that Combs fed her drugs and coerced her into highly choreographed 'freak-offs' with male escorts between 2021 and 2024. She said she tried telling Combs how she no longer wanted to continue with the sexual encounters, but always found herself back in dark hotel rooms for days on end. 'That night just opened, like, a Pandora's box in the relationship,' Jane told the jury. 'It just completely set the tone for our relationship moving forward. … I felt it was a door I was unable to shut for the remainder of the relationship.' For the first time — halfway through the expected eight-week trial — jurors were played audio from a freak-off. Jane is heard asking the male escort to wear a condom, but is interrupted by Combs, whose voice appears thick and slurred, as music pulsed in the background. 'Jane, when Sean said if you don't touch yourself right now, what did you understand he was saying,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey asked Jane as the audio played. 'I understood he was saying if you don't just move on from this and just forget about it,' Jane replied. In chilling testimony, Bryana 'Bana' Bongolan recalled the night in September 2016 when Combs allegedly cornered her on her close friend Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura's 17th floor balcony in Los Angeles, lifted her up, and 'held' her over the edge as she feared for her life. Bongolan said Combs was irate, yelling at her, 'You know what the fuck you did!' As she desperately tried to hold on and not slip to her death, she told Combs she had no idea what he was talking about, she recalled. After about 15 seconds, Combs finally relented and 'threw' her into some patio furniture, she testified. She said the alleged assault left her with bruising, back and neck pain, and deep emotional distress. 'I have night terrors and paranoia and scream in my sleep,' she told jurors. The jury was shown photos of what Bongol an said was her injury from that night, a large purple bruise on the back of her leg with a puncture wound in the center. The photo was snapped on September 26, 2016, according to metadata. But Combs' defense team latched onto that photo's date, which Bongolan said was taken in the immediate aftermath of the alleged balcony incident. They pulled up photos and hotel records that show Combs was actually in New York on that date, making it impossible for him to be in 'two places at the same time,' as Combs' defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland said. 'In theory, yeah,' Bongolan replied. 'I can't answer that one.' On redirect, Bongolan was asked if she had any doubt that Combs dangled her from the 17th story. 'I have no doubt,' she said. 'I will never forget him holding me over the balcony.' After Bongolan left the stand, prosecutors showed jurors a text message between Ventura and Combs' chief of staff Kristina Khorram dated September 2016, where Ventura tells Khorram of learning of the balcony incident. Over the weekend, Combs' all-star defense team filed its second motion for a mistrial, claiming Bongolan's testimony was 'demonstrably false in key respects.' 'The incident, as alleged, is disturbing and powerful evidence, and the government has used it to depict Mr. Combs in an extremely negative light, as an angry and dangerous man who terrified Ms. Ventura and her friends,' Combs' attorneys wrote in a Saturday letter. 'All of this was highly improper, and exacerbated the harm caused by suborning the perjured testimony.' Combs' team has already asked for a mistrial during testimony from a Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigator who was explaining the aftermath of musician Kid Cudi's car having a Molotov cocktail lobbed inside his Porsche. The official said he only recently learned that fingerprint cards taken from Kid Cudi's front door had been mysteriously destroyed during the course of his investigation. Combs' attorneys brought up the LAFD's official testimony in their recent letter, saying 'the government's motive all along must have been to suggest that Mr. Combs had corrupt influence over the LA authorities when it tried to create the impression that he was responsible for the destruction of the fingerprints.' 'Accordingly, the Court should grant a mistrial based on prosecutorial misconduct,' the five-page letter concluded. (Subramanian has yet to rule on the motion.) Combs' longtime chief of staff Kristina Khorram's name has continually popped up throughout the trial, but this week was the first notable time that prosecutors began using evidence taken from her devices, which were seized in the March 2024 raids on Combs' homes. During testimony from Eddy Garcia, the former InterContinental security guard who testified that he helped broker the deal between Combs and other security members to make the hotel videotape disappear in March 2016, the jury was shown pictures of the documents Garcia signed, as well as the driver's licenses that Garcia turned over. Prosecutors later said that these images were found on Khorram's electronic devices. A looming question is if Khorram will testify for the government, going against her boss of more than a decade. Already, many witnesses have mentioned Khorram — who has been described as Combs' right hand. Before the jury was brought in on Friday, prosecutors called her an 'agent and a co-conspirator of Mr. Combs.' Amid testimony, prosecutors entered a string of text messages between Combs and one of his security guards, D-Roc, into evidence. Dated September 13, 2015, the lengthy exchange seems to follow the aftermath of a fight between Combs and Ventura. 'Cass is calling studios looking for you,' D-Roc messages Combs. 'She keep asking for you, telling me she wants to go to the studio. I told her to chill out and said you are feeling bad about what happen.' 'Stay on top of Cassie,' came Combs' response, after D-Roc mentioned that he gave Ventura an ice pack. 'Does the eye look better? How is she holding up?' D-Roc told Combs that Justin (presumably Combs' son) had seen Ventura's eye, adding that he explained the apparent injury came from a 'fight [that] broke out last night in the club.' 'Why did she not have herself hiding,' came Combs' immediate response. Earlier in the conversation, Combs and D-Roc also seem to discuss another woman, who is referred to as 'G.' 'Hit my shorty and ask her what is going on,' Combs instructs D-Roc. 'Tell her that you just left me and you asked about her and all I said was I want to talk about it right now. Asking what's going on. Also be like, I thought you was coming to the big concert this weekend. Say he told me you were last week.' 'What did shorty say,' Combs asked, adding 'G.' The 'big concert' Combs was seemingly referring to was the iHeartMusic festival where the Bad Boy family performed ahead of the next year's reunion. In separate testimonies, Ventura, Combs' former personal assistant Mia and celebrity stylist Deonte Nash all spoke about Ventura discovering Combs' affair with a woman named Gina in October 2015, while she was filming a movie in South Africa. The public was given a rare peek into Combs' personal financial records through testimony provided by Bad Boy Entertainment's former Chief Financial Officer, Derek Ferguson, who testified on Tuesday afternoon. The executive, who worked for Combs and his various businesses between 1998 and 2017, was brought in to verify various companies that Combs solely owned and bank records associated with those entities. Ferugson was shown a bank statement for December 2011. That month alone, more than $3 million quickly flowed in and out of the account, which was tied to an LLC for Combs' former home in Alpine, New Jersey. The mogul's various businesses — including Combs Enterprises that was largely funded by Combs' partnership with liquor giant Diageo — deposited up to $800,000 in a single day into the personal account. Combs may have done some early Christmas shopping, making a $500,000 payment to Barbara Gladstone Gallery. He also wired $20,000 into an account for 'Casandra Ventura' on Dec. 14. The following week, nestled amid the hundreds of thousands of dollars pouring in and out of the account, shows a record for $20,000 being wired into Combs' account from Ventura's parents. The R&B singer's mother earlier testified during the trial that shortly after Combs discovered Ventura's fling with musician Kid Cudi, Combs called her directly and 'demanded' that she pay $20,000 that he allegedly had spent investing into Ventura's career. Regina Ventura testified that she and her husband took out a home equity loan to muster up the funds on such short notice. 'I was scared for my daughter's safety,' Regina said, referring to an email she had received from Ventura, who claimed Combs was threatening to release sexually explicit videos of her. In her own testimony, Ventura said she quickly broke things off with Kid Cudi and got back together with Combs, explaining that she believed it was the safest thing to do. 'I mean, Sean said to me, before I left L.A. that he was going to hurt the both of us,' Ventura said. 'I took that in my mind, like, if I stay in this situation, we both will be hurt. If I don't, then no one will be.' Days later, bank records showed that $20,000 was returned to the original sender — matching with Regina Ventura's testimony that the money was returned a few days later with no explanation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey said her direct examination of Jane will take up much of Monday, and the cross-examination could last until Thursday. The government has not unveiled their following witnesses, but previously indicated they could rest their case ahead of their previous projected timeline of six weeks. Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
New York Times
9 hours ago
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Sean Combs and the Sweater Defense
We are midway through the Sean Combs trial for racketeering, conspiracy and sex trafficking. The prosecution could rest its case as early as next week, at which point the defense will take over. But the team has already previewed one aspect of its case. As the defense lawyer Teny Geragos said in her opening statement, it's not about what the prosecution is 'trying to make my client out to be.' All anyone in the courtroom has to do is glance at the defendant to know what she means. The Sean Combs sitting at the defendant's table does not look anything like the Sean Combs whose behavior is on trial; the Sean Combs of most people's memories. His hair and goatee have gone almost white, thanks to prison rules that forbid hair dye. He wears black framed reading glasses. And he is always dressed in a white collared shirt and a neutral toned crew-neck sweater: blue sweaters, gray sweaters, beige sweaters. The contrast with the image that Mr. Combs built as a mogul — the one memorialized on the cover of Vogue, and in a perfume billboard featuring Mr. Combs in white tie with the tagline 'I am King' — is so great, it became one of the trial's earliest talking points. Even though the trial itself is not televised, it has been mentioned by almost every outlet covering the case. Mr. Combs was 'unrecognizable,' wrote the correspondent for The Independent. 'Unrecognizable,' agreed Hot97. Not 'like his Met Gala self,' decreed a TikTok commentator, referring to his last appearance at that party, in 2023, when Mr. Combs wore a custom-designed camellia-festooned cape and motorcycle tux with 600 Swarovski crystals and black pearls. There is a courtroom strategy known as 'the nerd defense,' a term coined by the lawyer Harvey Slovis, who once represented Mr. Combs during his trial on charges of gun possession in 1999. Now in broad use, 'the nerd defense' refers to the theory that dressing a client in glasses — accessories associated with intelligence and a lack of physical strength — has a subliminal effect on a jury, predisposing them to assume a lack of guilt. The point is, in a trial, every detail of a defendant's appearance matters. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
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Catch up on the Sean ‘Diddy' Combs trial so far
The federal trial of the United States of America v. Sean 'Diddy' Combs has captured much of the world's attention in its first four weeks in session. The prosecution is continuing to present its case, where it is seeking to prove Combs and some in his inner circle constituted a criminal enterprise that used threats, violence, kidnapping and other means to coerce women into 'Freak Offs' with male escorts and to protect his image. Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. His defense has acknowledged Combs was violent but has questioned the motives of those testifying and has said the accusations fall short of the charges. If convicted on all counts, Combs could face up to life in prison. Here is what we've learned in testimony at this point in the trial, which is expected to continue on for several more weeks.
