New York (AFP) – Rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs will remain imprisoned pending trial on racketeering and sex trafficking charges, after a judge denied his appeal Wednesday. Judge Andrew Carter upheld the previous day’s ruling that the bail package proposed by his defense team — which included a $50 million bond secured by his Miami home — was insufficient given his history of violence and substance abuse, and the possibility of witness tampering.
“It did not go our way,” Combs’s lawyer Marc Agnifilo told journalists outside the federal courthouse in Manhattan following the ruling. He vowed to keep pushing for Combs’s release on bail and also said he would urge the trial to move forward “as quickly as possible.” “Wherever he is, his resolve is the same. He believes he’s innocent,” Agnifilo said, adding that the prison conditions Combs is being held in are “inhumane.”
On Tuesday, the 54-year-old Combs was indicted on three criminal counts that allege he sexually abused women and coerced them into drug-fueled sex parties using threats and violence. Along with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, Combs is charged with one count of transporting victims across state lines to engage in prostitution.
Prosecutors say Combs was the don of a criminal enterprise that ensnared women and forced them to commit sex acts under the threat of violence, financial insecurity and reputational ruin. Combs has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors are likening his crimes to those of the late Jeffrey Epstein, convicted sex cult leader Keith Raniere, and fellow musician R. Kelly, who received more than three decades in prison for racketeering, sex trafficking and child sex crimes. It’s a remarkable fall from grace for the artist credited with playing a key role in the commercialization of hip-hop, who produced a constellation of famous proteges including The Notorious B.I.G.
© 2024 AFP
