Washington: Sean “Diddy” Combs will remain in jail as he awaits trial after a federal judge rejected his request for a $50 million bail package, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Combs had previously been denied bail by two other judges over concerns that he might tamper with witnesses.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, District Judge Arun Subramanian ruled on Wednesday that no release conditions could assure the safety of the community. The judge noted Combs’s alleged history of violence, including use of firearms, kidnapping and arson, and evidence of efforts to conceal communications with individuals he was barred from contacting.
Combs had previously been denied bail by two other judges over concerns that he might tamper with witnesses.
“There is evidence to support a serious risk of witness tampering,” the ruling said.
The court gave this decision after the bail hearing held last week. Wednesday’s court hearing highlighted incidents presented by the government, such as a 2016 video that appeared to show Combs assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel. Text messages between Combs and Ventura indicated the seriousness of the attack.
“I have a black eye and a fat lip,” Ventura wrote after the incident. “I still have crazy injuries.”
According to the publication, the court also pointed to Combs’ history of deleting messages with Ventura, who was subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury. Phone records showed that the two exchanged messages from June to August, but the messages could not be retrieved.
The court ruled that Combs violated prison rules by obscuring his communications. He allegedly paid other inmates to use his phone access codes and instructed his family and lawyers to use three-way calls to bypass monitoring. The decision said these actions showed “strong evidence” that Combs could not be trusted to comply with release conditions.
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“His willingness to circumvent the rules in a way that would make it more difficult to monitor his communications is strong evidence that he did not provide the court with reasonable assurances about the adequacy of any conditions of release,” the order said. May go.” Publication.
Prosecutors argued that Combs also used unauthorized messaging apps to contact witnesses and forced his family to write public messages intended to influence potential jurors.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Combs’ defense team, led by attorney Mark Agnifilo, argued that the allegations against him, particularly those related to sex trafficking, were unsupported. He said the allegations stemmed from a toxic, sometimes violent relationship. The defense also accused prosecutors of seizing privileged legal materials from Combs’ jail cell, although the court ordered prosecutors to remove images of Combs’s notes.
Federal prosecutors accused Combs of leading a criminal enterprise that included assaulting and trafficking women through his businesses since 2008. This includes incidents known as “freak offs”, where women were allegedly forced to perform sex acts. Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
A trial is scheduled for May 5, 2025.
