On Wednesday, a federal judge in New York denied Sean “Diddy” Combs’ appeal for bail in his sex-trafficking case.
According to TMZ, Judge Andrew L. Carter determined Combs should remain in custody as “the government has proven the defendant is a danger. The bail package is insufficient even on risk of flight.” This is the second time Combs has been denied bail following his arrest on Monday, meaning he will remain in custody.
READ: Crime Online’s continuing coverage of Sean “Diddy” Combs Sex Trafficking Case
At Tuesday’s appeal hearing, Combs’ attorneys offered a bail package that would have allowed Combs’ release on home detention with GPS monitoring. In exchange, they would post $50 million bail, using Combs’ Miami home as collateral. The same offer was made during Monday’s arraignment — when Judge Robyn Tarnofsky ruled to keep him in custody due to the severity of his crimes.
Meanwhile, federal prosecutors want Combs to remain jailed as they believe he’s a flight risk. According to CNN, prosecutors also cited evidence that Combs tried to cover up a 2016 incident in which he was filmed beating then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura at a California hotel.
Prosecutors argued he should remain jailed because he tried to obstruct that investigation. They then accused Combs of contacting victims and witnesses in their sex-trafficking case.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Combs was arrested at a Manhattan hotel on Monday, following a bevy of allegations and lawsuits accusing him of sex crimes.
In March, federal authorities raided Combs’ homes in Holmby Hills, California, and Miami. Reports indicated that the raid was connected to an ongoing sex trafficking investigation.
VIDEO: Feds RAID Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ Homes Amid Sex Trafficking Investigation
The reported raids also occurred four months after R&B singer Cassie Ventura accused him of sex trafficking and abuse. In a multimillion-dollar lawsuit, she alleged that Combs drugged her and forced her to have sex with other men. The pair settled the lawsuit a day after its filing.
However, in May, a video surfaced showing Combs assaulting Ventura at a California hotel in 2016. After the video was released, Combs put out a video expression contrition for his behavior. That video is the one mentioned in the criminal charges filed this week against Combs.
Two more accusers came forward a week after Ventura’s lawsuit. One of the women claimed Combs drugged and raped her at Syracuse University in New York in 1991. Combs denied those allegations before a third accuser, Liza Gardner, levied similar allegations against him.
In that case, Gardner claimed Combs and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall drugged and raped her and a friend following an Uptown Records event in 1990. Gardner said she was 16 at the time of the incident. She also accused Combs of choking her a day after the assault.
Days after footage of the 2016 assault was publicized, two more women filed lawsuits against Combs. One of those women was April Lampros, a student at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology who reportedly met Combs in 1994. Lampros accused Combs in the lawsuit of sexually assaulting her on four instances between the mid-1990s and the early 2000s.
Lampros claimed Combs promised to mentor her and connect her with executives in the fashion industry. Instead, Combs allegedly forced her to drink before raping her in a hotel room. Lampros recalled another instance in which Combs forced her to perform oral sex on her in a parking garage while a parking attendant watched.
Reports indicated that Combs has been accused of committing or facilitating sexual abuse in at least eight lawsuits. He has denied those allegations.
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[Featured image: AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File]
