Sean Combs charged with sex trafficking and organized crime

(Updated with additional details from the U.S. Attorney’s Office) Sean “Diddy” Combs could face more than 20 years in prison if found guilty of the three counts unsealed earlier this morning.

The “I’ll Be Missing You” rapper was arrested by federal authorities last night in a New York hotel. He is officially accused of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation for the purpose of prostitution. The charges date back nearly two decades and carry prison sentences of 15 years to life for 54-year-old Combs.

“For decades, SEAN COMBS, aka “Puff Daddy,” aka “P. Diddy,” aka “Diddy,” aka “PD,” aka “Love,” the defendant, abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his behavior,” says the recently unsealed indictment against the multi-accused producer and artist.

“To do so, COMBS leveraged the people, resources and influence of the multifaceted business empire he ran and controlled to create a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in or attempted to engage in, among other things, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice,” the filing from the office of U.S. Attorney Damian Williams continued.

Read the full federal indictment against Sean Combs here

In language that closely resembles the spate of sexual harassment and other lawsuits filed against Combs in recent months, the indictment alleges that Combs used drugs, violence and career opportunities in the music industry to influence and control his victims, those around him and others. The rapper also apparently used shame and blackmail to keep people from speaking out. “The sensitive, embarrassing and incriminating recordings he made during the Freak Offs served as a bargaining chip to ensure the victims’ continued compliance and silence,” the unsealed indictment states.

Combs is currently awaiting arraignment in a Manhattan courtroom.

According to his lawyer, the “Love” singer is expected to plead not guilty. “He will fight this with all his energy and all his strength and with the full trust of his lawyers,” said lawyer Marc Agnifilo this morning in front of the federal building.

In a detention brief submitted to the court this morning, prosecutors are requesting that Combs be kept in custody pending pretrial proceedings, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams confirmed this morning.

“One year ago, Sean Combs stood in Times Square and was handed a key to New York City,” SDNY Attorney Williams said in a brief press conference Tuesday after the sex trafficking charges were announced. “Today, he was indicted and will face justice in the Southern District of New York. We are not done yet. This investigation is ongoing and I encourage anyone with information about this case to come forward and do so quickly.”

In addition to facing prison time, self-proclaimed billionaire Combs could also face a severe financial hit. The government intends to seize “all property, real and personal” and an unspecified “amount of money” from the alleged crimes, the indictment states. According to the indictment, the organized crime charges include crimes dating back to 2008. The sex trafficking and transportation for the purpose of prostitution charges begin with acts first committed in 2009.

As a law enforcement source told me, Combs’ arrest on September 16 was the result of “a months-long investigation by coordinating authorities” and is directly related to raids that took place at the rapper’s Los Angeles and Miami homes earlier this year. To that end, the indictment states bluntly that during raids on Combs’ Florida and California homes in March, officers found a number of “firearms” and “seized various Freak Off supplies, including narcotics and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has scheduled a press conference for 8:30 a.m. PT to discuss Combs’ arrest and the charges.

Combs was first accused of sexual assault by singer and ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in November and is alleged to have sexually harassed and otherwise abused several women and men. He has been the subject of an ongoing federal criminal investigation in New York for months.

Although Combs denied all allegations, she reached a settlement with Ventura within 24 hours of filing her lawsuit. Sources told Deadline at the time that Combs paid Ventura “around $30 million.”

Not that the matter went away the way Combs probably hoped. The artist admitted the severity of his abusive relationship with Ventura after security camera footage surfaced in May showing him brutally abusing her in an LA hotel in 2016. When it was also revealed that Combs had purchased the footage for $50,000 the day after the incident, Ventura’s lawyers criticized him as “dishonest.”

Since Ventura’s lawsuit, the dam has broken for Combs; even a producer of his latest album accused him of sexual abuse and sued him in a $30 million lawsuit.

Just last week, Dawn Richard, one of the singers on the ABC/MTV series The band forms, Danity Kane filed a lawsuit accusing Combs of abuse and assault. The singer claimed in federal court in New York on Tuesday that the hip-hop mogul sexually harassed her, deprived her of food and sleep, and denied her fair pay for years. As in almost all cases against Combs, Richard claims the mogul threatened to destroy her career if she did not comply with his demands and wishes.