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MANHATTAN (CN) — A federal judge on Wednesday afternoon denied entertainment mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs’ latest motion for release from jail on a $50 million bail package due to “compelling evidence of Combs’ propensity for violence” and a strong risk of witness tampering.
Echoing the rulings of three other judges who also denied Combs’ requests for bail, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian cited in his five-page opinion a 2016 episode at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles where Combs was captured on surveillance video violently assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a hotel hallway, in addition to separate evidence “supporting a serious risk of witness tampering.”
Subramanian also noted that even in federal pretrial custody while has bail motions were pending, Combs had violated Bureau of Prisons regulations to obscure his communications with third parties.
Prosecutors had notified the judge that Combs paid other inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn to use their Phone Access Code (PAC) numbers to make calls to those not on his approved contact list, instructed family members and defense counsel to add other people to three-way calls so that their communications were more difficult to trace, and used a third-party messaging program called ContactMeASAP.
“His willingness to skirt BOP rules in a way that would make it more difficult for his communications to be monitored is strong evidence that the court cannot be ‘reasonably assure[d]’ as to the sufficiency of any conditions of release, especially given that they occurred when Combs was seeking bail, and when he knew the government’s concerns about witness tampering and obstruction were front and center.”
Combs, also known as Puff Daddy or Diddy, has been in federal pretrial detention since he was arrested in a Manhattan hotel lobby in September, six months after federal investigators searched his luxury homes in Los Angeles and Miami.
He was charged in a three-count indictment, accusing him of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
At a bail hearing this past Friday, Combs’ defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo told Subramanian that his legal team had secured a three-bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He said Combs could be confined there under “a very, very rigorous set of conditions,” including strict 24/7 monitoring by a private security firm.
His attorneys argued the current conditions of confinement infringe his constitutional rights to participate in his own defense.
Pushing back, prosecutors said Combs’ latest motion for bail “amounts to the defendant paying his way out of custody.”
The prosecutors argued that the bail proposal ignored “significant evidence" that “the defendant is a violent, serial abuser who uses his vast wealth and position in the entertainment industry to conceal his illegal conduct and prevent victims of, and witnesses to, his abuse from coming forward.”
“In light of the well-documented danger posed by the defendant, the updated proposed conditions of release are woefully insufficient to assure the safety of the community and integrity of these proceedings,” they wrote in an opposition brief.
“In sum, the defendant cannot walk away from the clear record in this case. His inability to explain away his long history of violence — including the March 2016 incident, captured on film — is a fatal blow to his application for release,” the Department of Justice wrote. “The defendant’s extensive history of violence makes him a danger to those around him and the safety of the community cannot be ensured short of his continued detention.”
A representative for the federal pretrial service office said at the bail hearing that they found Combs’ proposed bail conditions insufficient to ensure his court appearances.
Three judges have already separately rejected Combs’ successive applications for bail.
His first request — a proposed $50 million package — was rejected by a federal magistrate judge at his initial presentment in the Southern District of New York. That proposed deal was to be secured by Combs’ $48 million Miami mansion.
His second request for release on bail was denied by Barack Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter.
His third request, before Second Circuit Court of Appeals, was also denied last month by U.S. Circuit Judge William J. Nardini, a Donald Trump appointee. His sealed and pending appeal for bail before a three-judge panel was thus put on ice while Combs returned to the lower court to ask for bail once again.
He is currently scheduled to go on trial in Manhattan federal court on May 5, 2025.
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