Sean 'Diddy' Combs Pleads Not Guilty To Charges | HuffPost Latest News

Musician and media mogul Sean Diddy Combs pleaded not guilty Tuesday to three federal counts of sex trafficking and racketeering. He was arrested the day before, following a Manhattan grand jury indictment.

A judge denied Combs request to be released on bond, siding with prosecutors who argued that detaining him was the only way to ensure he did not attempt to flee or intimidate witnesses.

Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, confirmed Monday that Combs had been arrested by federal agents based on a sealed indictment.

The charges were made public shortly before Combs was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.

Prosecutors accused him of abusing women, employees and others, allegedly threatening them for years in order to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.

This abuse was, at times, verbal, emotional, physical and sexual, prosecutors wrote in charging papers.

Combs allegedly had his own name for the parties where the abuse took place: freak-offs.

Members and associates of the Combs Enterprise engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other activities, sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, coercion and enticement to engage in prostitution, narcotics offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice, they said.

Williams described the threat that Combs posed at a Tuesday press conference where he showed photographs of handguns and three AR-15 weapons taken from his home.

USA Damian Williams: Earlier this evening, federal agents arrested Sean Combs, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY. We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time.

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USA Damian Williams: Earlier this evening, federal agents arrested Sean Combs, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY. We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time.
US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) September 17, 2024

Combs attorney, Marc Agnifilo, had told The New York Times on Monday that he believed the charges were for racketeering and sex trafficking.

We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorneys Office, Agnifilo said in a statement to TMZ on Monday. Sean Diddy Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community.

Agnifilo said his client had been nothing but cooperative with investigators, noting Combs had voluntarily moved to New York last week in anticipation of the charges.

Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts, the lawyer said. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.

On Tuesday, Agnifilo told reporters that Combs spirits are good and that hes confident.

Hes going to fight this with all of his energy and all of his might and the full confidence of his lawyers and I expect a long battle with a good result for Mr. Combs, he added, according to People .