Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
What to Know About Sean 'Diddy' Combs' Indictment
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 8 months ago on
September 17, 2024

Sean "Diddy" Combs faces federal charges in a shocking indictment revealing alleged sex trafficking and racketeering operations. (AP File)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

NEW YORK – Sean “Diddy” Combs, the disgraced hip-hop mogul, faces federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges in an indictment that was unsealed Tuesday. He was arrested Monday in New York after being indicted by a federal grand jury. The arrest and indictment come after a months-long sex trafficking investigation and 10 months after a flurry of women came forward with allegations of sexual and other abuse.

Prior to the unsealing of the indictment, Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ attorney, said they knew what the charges would be and that Combs is “innocent of these charges.”

Here is a look at the key details of the three-count indictment.

Alleged Assaults Date Back to 2008

The indictment covers explicit details of Combs allegedly assaulting several women since 2008. He is accused of “verbal, emotional, physical and sexual” abuse and that he “hit, kicked, threw objects at, and dragged victims, at times, by their hair” in assaults that took “days or weeks to heal.”

In a large focus of the indictment, investigators said Combs orchestrated sexual encounters between his victims and male sex workers that he called “Freak Offs” — defined in the indictment as “elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded.”

According to authorities, these encounters sometimes lasted for days and often involved multiple commercial sex workers, with Combs drugging the participants to “keep the victims obedient and compliant.” The raids of Combs’ Los Angeles and Miami homes resulted in the seizure of supplies for the “Freak Offs,” including drugs and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant, prosecutors said.

Combs Accused of Leading Criminal Enterprise

The indictment alleges that Combs and others he associated with were members of a criminal organization that engaged in several illegal activities, including sex trafficking, forced labor, prostitution-related transportation and coercion, narcotics offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice. Combs is accused of leading the criminal operations, and the indictment says those who worked for him, including security staff, household staff, personal assistants and “high-ranking supervisors” were all a part of the criminal enterprise, either knowingly or unknowingly.

According to prosecutors, the group surrounding Combs worked to preserve and protect Combs’ power through violent means, including by using firearms, threats of violence, coercion and verbal, emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

“Combs did not do this all on his own,” the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Damian Williams, said at a press conference Tuesday morning. “He used his business and employees of that business and other close associates to get his way.”

Williams also said Combs’ employees were involved in organizing and arranging the “Freak Offs,” often supplying materials, cleaning hotel rooms after the encounters and helping to cover up the assaults.

The racketeering conspiracy charge has been famously used to bring down the Mafia and drug cartels.

Combs Intimidated Victims to Stay Silent, Prosecutors Say

Combs carried or brandished firearms to “intimidate or threaten others,” including victims and witnesses of his assaults, according to the indictment. In the raids of his Los Angeles and Miami homes, law enforcement officials said they found guns and ammunition, including three AR-15s with “defaced” serial numbers.

The indictment also accuses Combs of leveraging his victims’ desires to build careers in the music industry by using his money and influence to take advantage of them. Officials also said Combs used recordings of the “Freak Offs” to keep the victims from coming forward. Combs also controlled his victims’ housing, tracked their location, dictated their appearance, monitored their medical records and supplied them with drugs, investigators said.

Another court filing details several other acts of violence and intimidation Combs and his associates carried out, including kidnapping one person at gunpoint and slicing open a car’s convertible top to drop a Molotov cocktail inside, causing the car to explode. The filing also says police reports, fire department records and witnesses can all corroborate these instances.

Investigation Is Ongoing, More Arrests Are Possible

Prosecutors say they have interviewed more than 50 victims of and witnesses to Combs’ abuse, but that they expect more people to come forward with their accounts.

Given the ongoing nature of the investigation, prosecutors said they cannot share some details, including information about the witnesses who have provided or will provide testimony.

Williams said Tuesday that he is seeking to have Combs detained while he awaits trial. In responding to a question about whether Combs’ associates or employees will face charges, Williams said he “can’t take anything off the table.”

“Our investigation is very active and ongoing,” he added.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Facing Multiple Charges After Violent Freeway Pursuit and Shooting

DON'T MISS

Former Porterville Librarian Accused of Stealing Thousands From Elderly Friend

DON'T MISS

As Fresno Files First Case, Maxwell Vows to Protect Wage Theft Unit

DON'T MISS

Fowler Felon Jailed After Officers Find Assault Rifle, Drugs in Home Search

DON'T MISS

Young People Drive Fresno to CA’s Top Job Growth: Wells Fargo Study

DON'T MISS

Judge Rejects Claim That Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Was Treated Differently Because of His Race

DON'T MISS

Rapper Tory Lanez Attacked at a California Prison as He Serves Time for Megan Thee Stallion Shooting

DON'T MISS

Grapevine Fire Forces Full Closure of Southbound I-5

DON'T MISS

Fresno’s New Economic Development Leader Has Boomtown Expertise

DON'T MISS

KMJ’s Ray Appleton Is Off the Air as He Deals With ‘Rare Condition’

UP NEXT

Former Porterville Librarian Accused of Stealing Thousands From Elderly Friend

UP NEXT

As Fresno Files First Case, Maxwell Vows to Protect Wage Theft Unit

UP NEXT

Fowler Felon Jailed After Officers Find Assault Rifle, Drugs in Home Search

UP NEXT

Young People Drive Fresno to CA’s Top Job Growth: Wells Fargo Study

UP NEXT

Judge Rejects Claim That Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Was Treated Differently Because of His Race

UP NEXT

Rapper Tory Lanez Attacked at a California Prison as He Serves Time for Megan Thee Stallion Shooting

UP NEXT

Grapevine Fire Forces Full Closure of Southbound I-5

UP NEXT

Fresno’s New Economic Development Leader Has Boomtown Expertise

UP NEXT

KMJ’s Ray Appleton Is Off the Air as He Deals With ‘Rare Condition’

UP NEXT

Bakersfield Man Pleads Guilty to Aiming Laser at Sheriff’s Helicopter

Fowler Felon Jailed After Officers Find Assault Rifle, Drugs in Home Search

3 hours ago

Young People Drive Fresno to CA’s Top Job Growth: Wells Fargo Study

3 hours ago

Judge Rejects Claim That Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Was Treated Differently Because of His Race

4 hours ago

Rapper Tory Lanez Attacked at a California Prison as He Serves Time for Megan Thee Stallion Shooting

4 hours ago

Grapevine Fire Forces Full Closure of Southbound I-5

4 hours ago

Fresno’s New Economic Development Leader Has Boomtown Expertise

4 hours ago

KMJ’s Ray Appleton Is Off the Air as He Deals With ‘Rare Condition’

5 hours ago

Bakersfield Man Pleads Guilty to Aiming Laser at Sheriff’s Helicopter

6 hours ago

Erika Sandoval Faces Life Sentence for Murder of Former Exeter Police Officer

6 hours ago

US Car Prices Higher in April After Tariffs Hit

6 hours ago

Fresno Man Facing Multiple Charges After Violent Freeway Pursuit and Shooting

The Fresno County District Attorney’s Office has filed charges against a 31-year-old Fresno man, accusing him of attempted murder and ...

2 hours ago

2 hours ago

Fresno Man Facing Multiple Charges After Violent Freeway Pursuit and Shooting

A former Porterville librarian, Vikki Ann Cervantes, 50, faces felony charges for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from an elderly friend over the course of a year while managing her finances. (Shutterstock)
3 hours ago

Former Porterville Librarian Accused of Stealing Thousands From Elderly Friend

3 hours ago

As Fresno Files First Case, Maxwell Vows to Protect Wage Theft Unit

Fowler police and sheriff’s deputies arrested two residents Monday, May 12, 2025, after finding illegal firearms, drugs, and stolen property during a search of their home. (Fowler PD)
3 hours ago

Fowler Felon Jailed After Officers Find Assault Rifle, Drugs in Home Search

3 hours ago

Young People Drive Fresno to CA’s Top Job Growth: Wells Fargo Study

Sean 'Diddy' Combs, far left, looks on from the defense table with his attorneys, as a prospective juror, far right, answers questions posed by Judge Arun Subramanian, center, at Manhattan federal court, Monday, May 5, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
4 hours ago

Judge Rejects Claim That Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Was Treated Differently Because of His Race

Singer Tory Lanez returns to the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center for his trial, Dec. 13, 2022, in Los Angeles. (AP File)
4 hours ago

Rapper Tory Lanez Attacked at a California Prison as He Serves Time for Megan Thee Stallion Shooting

A fire has shut down all southbound lanes of I-5 at Grapevine Road on Monday, May 12, 2025, prompting major traffic delays as crews work to extinguish the flames. (CHP)
4 hours ago

Grapevine Fire Forces Full Closure of Southbound I-5

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend