Sean “Diddy” Combs was the only defendant charged this week in a sweeping sex trafficking and racketeering investigation.
But federal prosecutors made clear they do not believe he alone is responsible.
The 14-page indictment against Combs accuses the Bad Boy Entertainment founder of luring female victims and using violence, coercion and drugs to get the women to participate in “freak offs” — elaborate sex performances that were often recorded and sometimes lasted for several days.
The case alleges an extensive network and a complex scheme that not only required knowing many people, but also involved recruiting victims, organizing bizarre events, cleaning up and covering tracks so law enforcement officials couldn’t get involved.
“Combs did not do this all on his own,” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in announcing the charges. “He used his business and his employees and other close associates to get his way.”
Williams would not comment on whether further charges would be filed, but said the investigation is “active and ongoing.”
He said, “I can’t rule out anything. Anything is possible.”
Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges, including the federal racketeering case – a charge often seen against organized crime figures. John Gotti, James “Whitey” Bulger and associates of the Mexican Mafia and South L.A.’s Crips have been accused of the crime before.
Authorities have said Combs’ power and money allowed him to avoid disclosure for years. But some legal experts say the indictment could change that.
Matt Murphy, who for four years has been a prosecutor in Orange County handling sex crimes cases, said the wall of secrecy can come tumbling down.
Murphy said the racketeering charges mean anyone involved in the enterprise could face criminal charges. “There are people who witnessed these events who have their own criminal interests that they now have to worry about,” he said.
He said this could put pressure on his colleagues to testify against Combs.
“We don’t know yet, but I’m sure there are some people in his organization who are facing criminal liability who are going to be federal witnesses,” Murphy said.
According to court records, prosecutors allege they have obtained information from “dozens of victims and witnesses” — as well as communication and travel records and recordings with sex workers, including “dozens of video recordings made by (Combs) with victims.”
“This indictment only mentions Combs, even though it describes several other participants,” said Laurie Levenson, a criminal law professor at Loyola Law School and a former federal prosecutor. “Then you ask the question, ‘Are all of those participants getting a deal (from prosecutors), or will some of them join the defendant?’”
Federal prosecutors say Combs used his billion-dollar music and business empire to carry out the alleged crimes. According to the indictment, security, household staff, personal assistants and other associates participated in — and helped conceal — the criminal activity by using violence, intimidation, manipulation, bribery and threats.
For example, the indictment states that prior to the alleged freak events, employees and associates were tasked with enticing female victims to participate, “often under the pretense of a romantic relationship.”
Others were tasked with booking hotel rooms and stocking them with what prosecutors called “freak out supplies,” such as drugs, baby oil, lubricant, lighting and extra linens.
Combs’ employees and associates were also instructed to arrange travel for victims, hire sex workers, provide large sums of cash to Combs to pay sex workers, and provide rooms at Combs’ request.
In the days that followed, staff gave Combs and the others IV fluids to help them recover, according to the complaint. Others were tasked with cleaning rooms “to minimize the damage to the rooms.”
According to the indictment, Combs and others also used narcotics, threats of withholding financial support, videos and their influence over the entertainment industry to prevent victims from participating and to prevent them from going public.
“The victims believed they could not refuse (Combs’) demands without jeopardizing their financial or job security or suffering repercussions in the form of physical or emotional abuse,” the indictment reads.
The indictment says Combs’ business associates helped conceal evidence and watched over the victims to make sure they did not leave the hotel or Combs’ home.
The indictment also cites a 2016 video, obtained by CNN in May, that shows Combs kicking and dragging his then-girlfriend CassieWhose real name is Cassandra Ventura.
After a member of hotel security intervened, Combs allegedly tried to bribe him, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors also alleged that after Combs and his associates became aware of a potential investigation, they contacted the women and pressured, bribed or threatened them to provide false accounts of incidents.
In one case, prosecutors said Combs called a victim and asked her to “befriend” him, then tried to convince her she willingly participated in the acts.
Mary Groh Larry, a professor at the Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C., and former director of the National Center for the Prosecution of Child Abuse, compared Combs’ indictment to the sexual crimes and allegations made against celebrities such as Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein and R. Kelly.
In many of these cases, multiple people were aware of the incidents, yet allegations took years to surface.
“The number of people who are aware of and who perpetrate this type of sexual exploitation of vulnerable women is enormous, yet no one speaks up, and that’s troubling,” Gro Larry said.
Money is one of the tools used to hide alleged illegal activities, but Gra larry said influence, power and a person’s public image also play a role.
They pointed to child pornography charges against Kelly that were initially filed in 2002, and during which prosecutors faced significant public backlash. Kelly was acquitted of those charges in 2008.
It was only several years later, when the allegations surfaced, that this came to light. Article published by journalist Jim DerogatisThat led to a new investigation and Kelly was convicted of multiple charges, sex trafficking and racketeering, in 2022.
“It’s hidden from the general public because power is part of grooming,” he said. “Being a pillar of society, a source of power, it prevents it from reaching the wider public, or creates resistance for the public to accept it.”
Combs’ attorneys vowed to fight the charges.
“He will fight this battle to the end. “He is innocent,” Combs’ attorney, Mark Agnifilo, said outside court this week. “He came to New York to prove his innocence. He is not afraid; he is not scared of the charges. The government said nothing in its presentation today that would change anybody’s mind about anything.”
Combs was ordered held without bail. His lawyers have appealed the decision, arguing in a letter to the judge that the music star has taken numerous steps to prove he is not a flight risk, including traveling to New York with the intention of surrendering to authorities and surrendering his passport to his lawyers.
On Wednesday, a judge ordered Combs to remain in custody until his trial.
