Desperate Diddy Loses Second Bid at Bail — With Judge Ordering Scandal-Hit Rapper To Stay Locked Up Until Sex Trafficking Trial
Sean 'Diddy' Combs lost his second bid to bail out of the New York jail where he is being held on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
RadarOnline.com can report the embattled rapper will remain behind bars until trial.
U.S. District Court Judge Andrew L. Carter declared "no condition or set of conditions" could ensure the safety of witnesses and the community if Combs, 54, were to be released.
Federal prosecutors who pushed to keep him in jail argued the defendant had an alleged history of extorting his victims.
The three-count federal indictment against Combs painted him as a sex-crazed deviant who allegedly forced women and male prostitutes into drug-fueled "extended sexual performances" he called "freak-offs".
In court on Wednesday, prosecutors noted the indictment's allegation he used "embarrassing and sensitive recordings he made of the freak-offs as collateral against the victims".
He was also accused of using violence and coercion to "intimidate and threaten victims and witnesses".
Judge Carter sided with the prosecution, saying Combs was dangerous and the bail package he proposed was insufficient in addressing concerns about him being a flight risk.
The judge referenced the infamous hotel security video from 2016 showing Combs violently attacking his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. In response, the defense claimed the pair "loved" each other and emotions had been running high due to infidelity, per The Independent.
Judge Carter clapped back: "What does that have to do with him punching her, throwing a vase at her? What's love got to do with that?"
The prosecution also revealed during the hearing: "Half a dozen escorts is just the tip of the iceberg of the number of escorts that have participated in 'freak-offs'".
Combs has been locked up at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since his arrest Monday night.
After pleading not guilty during his first court hearing on Tuesday, a federal magistrate judge denied Diddy bail. But his lawyers appealed the decision the following day in front of Judge Carter, who is overseeing the case.
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He had offered to post a $50million bond in exchange for being placed on house arrest, agreeing to wear a GPS monitor and promising to show up to court hearings.
The defense asserted: "Mr. Combs should be released on the conditions proposed so that he can fight this case in Court effectively."
But after listening to arguments from each side, two judges agreed with prosecutors who said he was a flight risk and had an alleged history of witness tampering.
One of Diddy's attorneys, Marc Agnifilo, declared outside the courthouse his client was "innocent" and "not afraid of the charges".
Agnifilo insisted Combs would "clear his name", saying: "He's going to fight this to the end...He didn't do these things".
After Tuesday's hearing, the lawyer was interviewed by CNN's Kaitlan Collins, who asked how the defense team could ensure their client would not flee or interfere with witnesses if let out on bail.
In response, he said the "most important thing" was that "as soon as we realized that this indictment was going to be coming down...Mr. Combs got on a plane, left his home in Florida [and] flew to New York."
Agnifilo said Diddy offered to turn himself in, but claimed officials "didn't want him to surrender because if he surrenders, they don't get to tell the judge that he's a flight risk and he's a danger".
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