legrandangle-lgm

Sean “Diddy” Combs can forget about getting out of Brooklyn’s infamous Metropolitan Detention Center, where he has been since his arrest in September on sex trafficking and RICO charges.

Judge Arun Subramanian denied Combs’ team’s request for release on Wednesday (Nov. 27). His decision followed a two-hour court hearing on Friday (November 22).

“The Court finds that the government has demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that no condition or combination of conditions could reasonably ensure the safety of the community,” the judge wrote in a five-page order.

Prosecutors maintained that the 8-year-old video of Combs attacking Cassie Ventura at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles was evidence of sex trafficking.

However, the disgraced mogul’s lawyers alleged that the government submitted an altered video that omitted critical scenes and actually presented events out of order.

“He admitted it and apologized for it. This happened in the middle of a freak-off. The U.S. has evidence that a male commercial sex worker was in the hotel room at the time,” prosecutors told the judge.

Prosecutors also accused Combs of using other inmates’ phone access, using an “unauthorized third-party messaging service” to communicate with multiple people and using his children for a “social media campaign” for his recent birthday.

Combs’ attorneys admitted he used the PACs but said he had no choice because of the dire conditions at MDC. They also argued that the Fed had failed to prove their claims of witness tampering. His lawyers maintained that any contact with witnesses was innocent and consistent with his right to participate in his defense by developing potential defense witnesses.

“Some of these recordings show him telling people, just tell the truth, talk to my lawyer,” Diddy’s attorney Marc Agnifilo told the judge.

Comb’s attorneys also pointed to the case of Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries and the fact that he was released on a $10 million bond. Jeffries was charged in a 16-count indictment accusing him of sex trafficking and interstate prostitution. He was also accused of using force, fraud and coercion in trafficking men while operating a prostitution business.

“The charges in the Jeffries, Abercrombie case are worse than here,” Combs’ attorney Alexandra AE Shapiro told the judge. “They claim there is an international sex trade. They were raped and forced to have ### sex.”

Prosecutors noted the similarities but pointed out key differences: Jeffries’ obstruction ended in 2015, while Diddy’s conduct stretched into 2024. They also pointed out that Jeffries had no criminal record, while Combs’s was more than two decades was old.

Judge Subramanian ultimately sided with prosecutors and sent Combs back to his jail cell at MDC.

Combs initially proposed a robust $50 million bail package. He offered to live alone at home in Florida, with a 24/7 security team monitoring a pre-approved guest list.

Prosecutors shot the security team because the security team and an investigator “contacted witnesses. Essentially, they work for him. This would be the defendant buying his way out.”

Combs also said he would give up access to his cell phone and internet and, in the words of his attorney, Marc Agnifilo, “do nothing other than prepare for trial.”

However, Judge Subramanian upheld earlier rulings stating: “There is no condition or combination of conditions to ensure that he will not obstruct the course of justice or tamper with witnesses.”

Combs is charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution.

He pleaded not guilty to all charges. His trial will start in May 2025.