Sean “Diddy” Combs Sex Trafficking Trial Gets Start Date; Further charges could come from the Fed

BREAK – If Sean “Diddy” Combs is found guilty, he could face life behind bars. In less than a year he will face a jury of his peers.

In a hearing currently underway in Manhattan, Judge Arun Subramanian told the music mogul in attendance, his defense team, his mother and prosecutors that Combs’ sex trafficking trial will begin on May 5, 2025. The schedule is consistent with what Combs said,” lawyers suggested in a filing in the federal case earlier this week.

More from Deadline

Combs has been in federal custody since Sept. 16, when agents arrested him in the lobby of the Park Hyatt Hotel in New York. Combs and his lawyers knew a grand jury indictment and arrest would be imminent, but had hoped to effect a surrender on their own timetable – which apparently didn’t happen.

After months of civil lawsuits, Homeland Security raids on both coasts and investigations by multiple law enforcement agencies, a federal grand jury indicted the founder of the Bad Boy record label in September on charges of forced prostitution, transportation of prostitutes and conspiracy to commit racketeering.

Combs has pleaded not guilty. Today, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office told Judge Subramanian, Combs and others in the courtroom that a supplemental indictment may be filed. That means a current charge against Combs may be thrown out or replaced, or entirely new charges may emerge from the ongoing investigation.

The government alleges that Combs and his aides forced women into marathon sexual encounters, called “freak offs,” with male prostitutes and that the women were alternately drugged, threatened with violence and physically prevented from leaving the hotel rooms in which “Freak Offs” were there to leave. The indictment states that some of these encounters were filmed and were likely used to blackmail or silence participants.

One reason for today’s hearing is the fact that Combs is currently appealing the repeated denials of his bail that have left him languishing in the notoriously harsh Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. The offer of $50 million bail, house arrest and other lawyers say fears that Combs will tamper with witnesses if released are “speculative.”

After failing twice to get her client out of trouble, the rapper’s new arm of the rapper’s defense team filed an appeal earlier this week in the hopes of getting Combs granted temporary release on a third attempt. At the same time, and taking advantage of the timing of events like today’s hearing, Combs’ attorneys are also attacking U.S. Attorney Damian Williams’ case by calling for an October 9 court hearing on “unlawful government leaks” by the Department of Homeland Security they claim they have intended to denigrate Combs in advance of a possible trial.

Her Exhibit A for these claims is a video aired by CNN of Combs abusing a former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in a Los Angeles hotel corridor in 2016. “The videotape was leaked to CNN for one reason only: to mortally tarnish the reputation and the situation.” “There is a prospect that Sean Combs will successfully defend himself against these allegations,” Combs’ attorneys wrote in a motion Wednesday Justice Subramanian.

They are calling for an evidentiary hearing in the matter, with the graphic video evidence either suppressed or the charges dismissed. It looks like they are on the wrong path or looking for a distraction.

The SDNY U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote to the judge late Wednesday that it had nothing to do with CNN obtaining this vile surveillance footage. In fact, prosecutors included a copy of the email they sent to Combs attorneys Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos on the matter on the afternoon of Oct. 9. “It is our understanding that DHS was not in possession of the videotape prior to its release by CNN,” Asst U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson said in an email at 12:45 p.m. ET. “Only the government has the authority to obtain grand jury materials, and the video broadcast by CNN was not obtained as part of the grand jury process.”

Less than 24 hours after Ventura filed a lawsuit in late November 2023 alleging abuse, rape and more at the hands of Combs, the self-proclaimed billionaire reportedly paid her around $30 million to settle her lawsuit against him.

Despite this settlement, Combs continued to deny ever mistreating Ventura.

When the 2016 video was released in May of this year, Combs quickly apologized and claimed he was ashamed of himself. The apology was met with disapproval from Ventura’s lawyers and many others. Since Ventura’s short-lived lawsuit late last year, several other women and a producer of the artist’s latest album, “All About the Benjamins,” have filed civil lawsuits alleging Combs abused, drugged, threatened and sexually assaulted them.

The best of Deadline

Sign up for the Deadline newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.