Aisha Tukur
Criminal charges against Combs could land him in prison for life
Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is currently in federal custody awaiting trial on charges of racketeering and sex trafficking.
His arrest last week in New York comes amid a series of civil suits alleging sexual assault and physical violence, some going back to the 1990s.
The 11th and latest accuser to come forward, Thalia Graves, claims Combs and his bodyguard drugged, bound and raped her in 2001, and filmed the incident.
The Harlem-born rapper has denied criminal wrongdoing.
What is the criminal case about?
Combs, 54, was arrested on Monday 16 September in a New York hotel on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force and transportation for purposes of prostitution.
Federal prosecutors have accused him of “creating a criminal enterprise” in which he “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfil his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct”.
They said Combs had used drugs, violence and the power of his status to “lure female victims” into extended sex acts called “Freak Offs”.
They also revealed they had uncovered firearms, ammunition and more than 1,000 bottles of lubricant during raids on Combs’s homes in Miami and Los Angeles in March.
Prosecutors have reportedly been in touch with several witnesses who worked under Combs and some of the accusers currently suing him, and have left open the possibility of more charges.
The singer-producer has pleaded not guilty to the three felony counts against him and his attorney told reporters he was a “fighter” who was “not afraid of the charges”.
Combs is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, a federal jail notorious for its violence and poor inmate care.
MDC includes an extra-security section with barracks-style housing reserved for special detainees, and US media report that Combs is sharing the space with convicted cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.
His legal team sought his release pending trial because of the jail’s “horrific” conditions, but prosecutors argued he posed “a serious flight risk” and Combs has twice been denied bail.
If convicted, he faces a sentence of anywhere from 15 years to life in prison.
