September 17, 2024 • 41 mins
Hip hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is behind bars and in court following his arrest late Monday in Manhattan.
A federal grand jury indicted Combs on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation for prostitution.
Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, stated at a press conference that prosecutors will seek to detain Combs without bail. Williams indicated that the investigation is ongoing, saying, "We are not done," and did not rule out additional charges against Combs or others.
In a detention memo filed with the court, prosecutors described Combs as “a serious risk of flight,” “a significant risk of obstructing justice,” and “a danger to the community.”
The memo details Combs' alleged use of violence, threats, and coercion since at least 2008 to exert control. It claims that Combs and a co-conspirator kidnapped someone at gunpoint on December 22, 2011, to facilitate breaking into another person's residence, identified as Individual-1. Prosecutors expect testimony from “multiple witnesses” and police reports to support the allegations.
JOINING NANCY GRACE TODAY:
- Neama Rahmani – Former Federal Prosecutor-turned-Trial Attorney; Author: “Harvard to Hashtag;” INSTAGRAM: @Neamarahmani/ X: @NeamaRahmaninr@westcoasttriallawyers.com
- Kelly Hyman – Trial & Civil Attorney (Miami, FL); TV Legal Analyst; Author: “Build Back Better;” X: @kellyhyman1, TikTok: @kelly.hyman, Instagram: @Kelly_Hyman1
- Caryn L. Stark – Psychologist, Renowned TV and Radio Trauma Expert and Consultant; Instagram: carynpsych/FB: Caryn Stark Private Practice
- Chris McDonough – Director at the Cold Case Foundation, Former Homicide Detective; Host of YouTube channel: “The Interview Room”
- Lynn Shaw – Founder and Executive Director of Lynn’s Warriors
- Sydney Sumner - Crime Online investigative reporter
- Angelica Martinez-Servigna - Crime Online investigative reporter
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Stores with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Cuff Daddy Shawncom's arrested by the Feds in a luxe
hotel in the dark of night, Now in federal custody.
I'm Nancy Grace, this is Crime Stories. Thank you for
being with us today.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I'm announcing the unsealing of a three count indictment charging
Shawn Combs with racketeering, conspiracy, sex trafficking, interstate transportation for prostitution.
The indictment alleges that between at least two thousand and
eight and the present Comb's abuse threatened and coerce victims
to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal
(00:43):
his conduct. As a legend of the indictment, to carry
out this conduct, Shawn Combs led and participated in a
racketeering conspiracy that used the business empire he controlled to
carry out criminal activity including sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery,
(01:04):
and the obstruction of justice.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
And we have just gotten our hands on the federal indictment.
But first let's talk about what went down in the
dark of night. Sean Puffy Combs seen out on the
street in New York just thirty minutes before Fed's break
into his luxury suite at the Park Hyatt Hotel on
fifty seventh Street and arrest Combs and proceed to shred
(01:30):
that hotel room looking for evidence. Joining me right now
at the hotel just outside the Park Hyatt is crimeonline
dot Com investigative reporter Angelica Martinez. Angelica, thank you for
being with us. Tell me what happened right there last night.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
Yes, Nancy, we are currently outside the high end hotel,
the Park Hyatt Hotel, where Sean.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Puffy Combs was arrested last night. He was arrested.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Following a indictment that was turned by a grand jury
on Monday, and that's set in the process to arrest
Sean Combe.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Guys joining us a Jelica Martinez at the Park Hyatt,
we understand that Fed's pursue it to warrant, went into Combs'
room right behind you, up on one of the penthouse
levels and arrested comes last night. He had no idea
it was about to happen. We've also heard reports the
arrest was to go down at least forty eight if
(02:28):
seventy two hours later, but something triggered the FEDS to
make the arrest last night. Comb's actually spotted out on
the street and videoed bsing with fans and friends just before,
literally minutes before.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
The FEDS arrested him.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I know they were poised outside the park Hyatt Hotel
where you're standing right now, Angelica, waiting for him to
come back in with eyes on Sean Puffy comes the
entire evening, Angelica.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
Yes, So apparently goociations for shawcom Surrender had been in
the talks for a while, and like you said, Nancy,
something triggered this arrest. Something happened that caused them to
move it from allegedly later in this week to just
last night. He was allegedly arrested right in the lobby,
(03:17):
and he was not expecting that, according to some.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Sources, Angelica, I think I know what may have prompted
the early arrest. You know, you're about twenty thirty minutes
from Teeterborough private airstrip.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Combs has money.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
You can get on a private plane without a passport
now where you can land without one as a whole
another can of worms. But if they got win that
he was leaving with all of his money and access
to private planes, that's the time you make the arrest
ahead of time, joining me there at the Park Heyatt
Hotel in the heart of Manhattan, Angelica Martinez, let's open
(03:54):
it up to the panel and the last few moments,
we caught the lawyer, the defense attorney Agna Fellow, and
he states his client is going to be released. Do
you really believe that Sean Puffy Combs is going to
get out on bond?
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Straight out to high profile.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Lawyer Nima Romani, former federal prosecutor, President West Coast Trial
Lawyers and author of Harvard to hashtag. He is an
expert in federal law. Nima, thank you for being with us.
Quick question regarding bond. Now we know that Combs was
held overnight and he is with the Feds right now.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
You know his lawyer is.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Going to make a big play for him to get
out on bond and make a big show, probably walking
along Park Avenue maybe Fifth Avenue, wearing his fur coat
as if he has a worry in the world. Why
do I say that, because when you don't know a horse, Nima,
look at his track record that has been his inmost.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Since the get go. Hey, you're raiding my house, no problem.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
I'm out surfing watersports with my family living it up
with some champagne.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Yeah, that's him.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
That's his INMO to act like nothing is wrong and
give the illusion of complete innocence and care free.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Do you think they're gonna give him bond?
Speaker 6 (05:19):
Nancy's really up to the judge. I don't think he
deserves bond, because we're talking about some very serious charges, right,
and bond is appropriate when an individual is not a
risk of flight or a danger to the community, and
like you said, he's both. We're talking about someone that's
engaged in violence, drug offenses, sex offenses, firearms allegations. There.
This is someone who's violent, and of course he is
(05:40):
essentially unlimited means and can take off. Now, there's going
to be detention hearing, usually within three court days of
the first appearance, and a judge is going to have
to decide whether there's no condition or combination of conditions
that can guarantee Diddy's appearance in court. I think, even
though I disagree, if you put a gun to my head,
I think he is going to be granted some sort
(06:02):
of bond, even though I don't think he deserves it.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Nima Ramani, if it were anybody but Sean Puffy comes,
they would not get bond because.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
This is a huge federal indictment.
Speaker 6 (06:12):
You're a FED.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
I was a FED.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
You know how long it's taken them to put this
thing together. All it takes is one private flight to
another country.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
He's gone.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
I mean, look, we've never been able to get Roman
Polansky back, and many many others we see ours. Think
of Kanye, for Pete's sake, who records in Paris. He
doesn't need to be in the US. This indictment shows
a vast criminal enterprise. What are we learning. We're learning
that there are co conspirators. But I want to tell you,
(06:43):
Nima and the rest of the panel, listen to this.
In the very beginning and the very first line. For decades,
the defendant abused, threatening, coerced women and others around him
to fulfill sex desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
And that is exactly what he's been doing.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Straight back out on the street, joining us in front
of the park Hyatt Hotel. Crimeonline dot Com investigative reporter
Angelica Martinez Angelica as late as last night, thirty minutes
before he is arrested by the Feds, he's out like
he doesn't have a care in the world, bsing, playing
around on the streets with his cohorts. So that's his
(07:26):
mo He always has the facade, the veneer of successful
rap mogul billionaire out on yachts, living it up, dripping
in furs and diamonds. But that's the way he portrays himself,
and right here in the federal indictment we see that's
(07:47):
part of his modus operendi, forcing others to fulfill his
sex desires, in other words, raping them while protecting his
reputation and concealing his conduct.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Angelica.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
So he did. He definitely has a history of this.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
If we look back to when his La and Miami
homes were rated back in March, he did. He was
out living his life in Miami with not a care
in the world, taking pictures with fans and you know,
posing for Instagram lives, and so that's definitely part of
the persona he has tried to keep up and has
done so successfully for.
Speaker 5 (08:24):
These past couple of decades. You know, he did.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
He was the guy you wanted to be around, you
wanted to have parties with, get invited to his you know, luxurious,
amazing white parties. As we heard from the latest lawsuit
from Adria English, who was one of those participants in
the White parties. So you know, he spent the night
in federal custody, which is quite the contrast from this
(08:48):
very luxurious Highatt hotel we have behind me and you know,
as you said, in the heart of Manhattan.
Speaker 5 (08:54):
So yeah, very very interesting stuff going down with he.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Did he You know, the indictment is naming cohorts, but
who will they end up being. It gives veiled references
to security guards, seven other businesses, employees that worked for
Comes and enabled him to basically run a sex trafficking enterprise.
(09:22):
What does that mean? Rico racketeering. It was first reserved
for the mob. The mob, This is what it means.
Let me break it down, jump in with me, Nima Romani. First,
you have a predicate act. That can be a rape,
It can be a murder of Chupac Sukure, it can
be any number of state crimes. But that predicate acts
(09:46):
like the center of a big spider web. And there
are other people helping you enlist sex victims to enlist
in further your criminal enterprise. That is how the fans
are going to bring in other witnesses as defendants and
(10:09):
in the end, Ramani, they are going to rap out comes.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Agree, disagree?
Speaker 6 (10:15):
Oh agree? Because when you're dealing with a Rico conspiracy,
anyone who participates in the conspiracy, they're on the hook
for all the substantive acts and further into the conspiracy.
So what does that mean someone called or help to
get one of these commercial sex workers and they're raped
by force, They're on the hook even if they didn't
participate in the rape. So the Feds have a lot
(10:37):
of leverage in these reco cases. And like you said,
you don't need a whole lot to prove Rico. You
don't need a mob or the carteler shriekings, you need
a criminal enterprise.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Ramone.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
We just got our hands on this very lengthy federal
indemond and you know, the de Feds go, the fans
go whole hog. They're not going to charge you one
or two counts. I'd like to direct your attention to
paragraph twelve A Combs and other members and associates of
Comb's enterprise. There's your witnesses right there, wielded power and
(11:08):
prestige and would have repeat freak offs. Freak offs, the fez.
Their words, not mine. They were elaborate and produced sex
performances that Combs himself arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often
(11:29):
electronically recorded.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
A freak off in arranging them.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Combs, listen, Here's the witnesses with the assistants and members
and associates of Comb's enterprise. Here's the crime transported caused
to be transported sex workers across state lines and internationally.
They occurred regularly, sometimes lasted multiple days, involved multiple commercial
(11:59):
sex workers, and during the free coughs.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
That's just a nice word.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
That's just a nice phrase for forcing women to be
videoed while they're being raped. During their free coughs, Combs
distributed drugs to victims to keep them obedient and compliant. Sometimes,
unbeknownst to the victims, Combs kept videos filmed of victims
in sex acts with sex workers.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Did you hear that?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
That's exactly Nema Romani what Cassie Venturis said in her lawsuit.
Then he would force her to complete sex acts.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
With sex workers, and he would video it.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
After freak offs, Combs and victims got IV fluids to
recover from all the drug use and physical exertion. Can
you hear what I'm saying, Romani? Can you hear the
freak coughs I do? This is all consistent with what
Cassie told us almost.
Speaker 6 (13:04):
A year ago in November. She was forced to have
sex with these sex workers? Did he recorded it? So
there's gonna be a treasure trove of evidence. And if
you look at that indictment, they recovered one thousand bottles
of baby oil, Nancy, one thousand that were used in
these sex acts. So these are women who were brought
and sometimes men, and they were forced to commit sex.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Name of Ramani.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
You know what, didn't you go to Harvard? I did
your instructor at Harvard? Did you ever imagine that you
would be right here right now with me talking about.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
A billionaires many?
Speaker 2 (13:39):
How many bottles of baby oil did he have for
his free coughs?
Speaker 6 (13:44):
How many more than a thousand? Nancy? I never thought
when I graduated Harvard Law School at age twenty two,
I would be talking about did he rolling around in
baby oil with commercial sex workers? So the answer to
that is no, me either.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
But this is just a tiny tape of what we're
getting right here. And I'll tell you what I think,
Ramani and the Feds are not gonna like it, but
they were facing the prospect of being a toothless tiger,
a house cat. They had Kazi Ventura, and a video
(14:19):
leaked of him beating her, kicking her, dragging her up
and down the halls of a hotel.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
On video, a grown man.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Out in the hall wearing nothing but a towel, beating
her viciously and dragging her back to his hotel room
to do what, rape her, that's my allegation. And they
were doing nothing. There was a stream of people saying,
he raped me, he made me have sex with sex workers,
he videoed it. There's the Tupac Secure Cloud murder hanging
(14:51):
over him. So what were the FEDS going to do?
Sit back and twiddle their thumbs. No, they had to act.
Speaker 6 (14:58):
Ramani Well, of course that to act. We've all seen
that video of Diddy beating Cassie in twenty sixteen, and
you know, when you're talking about Rico, there's a ten
year window for those credited acts. So that window was.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Coming up two thousand and sixteen, Ramani twenty sixteen, nearly
ten years ago. They had to act or else hang
their head in shame.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Nima.
Speaker 6 (15:22):
They did, and their window was closing. Man, see if
they didn't file this, and we were asking why did
it take six months? If they didn't file all of
a sudden, some of these counts they can fall off
because of the statute of limitation, So the Feds had
to finally act. There was a lot of pressure on them.
Victim after victim was coming forward. We're talking about the
(15:43):
eight or nine different lawsuits on this show. So the
question I have is why did it take so long?
Better late than ever, but justice delayed is justice denied.
So I'm glad the victims are going to finally have
their day in criminal court, although this of course will
put all those civil lawsuits on hold.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Alleged Combs use force, threats of force encasion to cause
victims to engage in extended sexual performances with male commercial
sex workers, some of whom he transported or caused to
be transported over state lines. Combs allegedly planned and controlled
the sex performances, which he called freak offs, and he
(16:22):
often electronically recorded them.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Crime Stores with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Sean Puffy Combs in custody in federal custody after being
arrested last night at the Park Hyatt Luxury Hotel, fifty
seventh Street, Manhattan. Now, the Feds seemingly had planned to
take Combs into custody at a later date, but something
(16:59):
triggered them to act last night, and then they totally
shredded his hotel room looking for evidence, joining.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Me an all star panel.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
But we caught up with his lawyer, Agnafello, and this
is what he has to say.
Speaker 7 (17:15):
He came to New York to basically engage the court
system and start the case, and it'll start today and
he's gonna plead not guilty. Obviously, he's going to fight
this with all of his energy and all of his
might and the full confidence.
Speaker 6 (17:29):
Of his lawyers.
Speaker 7 (17:30):
And I expect a long battle with a good result
for mister Commerson.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
So kill really if you.
Speaker 7 (17:36):
I'm going to fight like hell to get him released.
And he should be released with all that he's done
and coming here voluntarily. And guys, I'm going to cut
it short because I have to.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Go in all right, he should be released because of
all he's done. He should stay behind bars because all
he has done. I'm guaranteeing you if this were not
a wealthy billionaire and famous person, there would be no
chance in h double l that he would be released
on bond. I mean Lynn Shaw is joining me Founder
executive director Lynz Warriors, committed to ending sex trafficking.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Lynn Shaw. It's easy to get.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Sucked in, not me, but for many people, to get
sucked into Shawn Comes' lifestyle, his rolls, Royce's, his mansions,
his diamond rings, his fur.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Coats, his luxurious lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
You know what, the devil can wear a tuxedo and
fit right in at the symphony.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
But until you have seen what happens to sex trafficking victims,
it changes everything.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
It changes the way you.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Look at abusers allegedly like Shawn Comes, explain what these
women go through.
Speaker 8 (18:48):
First of all, I am disgusted and very angry, Nancy.
You know they say a picture is worth a thousand words,
But in New York City, if you have a nickname,
a street name, which.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
He did, and it was pimp Daddy. Let me repeat that,
pimp Daddy.
Speaker 8 (19:05):
I am angry because the focus now, of course, is
all on him. They should lock him up and throw
away the keys to show all the victims and survivors
of sex trafficking that this is happening that this thug
is being held accountable, because if they let him out,
we will not We still have think about all the
(19:26):
women who have not come forward. How about all the
girls that were teenagers. Nobody's talking about that yet, that
are afraid to come forward. Now, women, I want to
remind you, I started out of college in the music business.
I have always heard from girls and women about this
whole criminal cartel going up through the hip hop then
(19:47):
becoming rap and Pimp Daddy that is what they called
him ten years ago. What has taken so long? So
I want to remind everybody. Although this is all going
on and it is a great day here in New
York City, we must focus on our survivors. I want
them to get equal attention. I want them to have
voices because lives have been ruined healthcare, their bodies have
(20:09):
been ruined, their minds have been ruined, and they feel
like they have nobody to turn to. There aren't the resources.
So if we show Pimp Daddy, by example, is going
to be locked up, You're going to see a lot
more women come forward. Talk about this. And as I'm
sitting here, I'm getting texts from people we told you,
we told you, we told you that have been affiliated
with him or the music business over the years. So
(20:32):
I say, let us use this as an example. Let's
get through this, lock them up, and then talk about
what we can do to support survivors.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Nama Romani, she's right, but how are we going to
do it? Taking a look at the indictment, give me
your breakdown on the charges, Nama Romani, Well, we're.
Speaker 6 (20:48):
Three sets of charges. We have a rico conspiracy. That's
that racketeering, and it's the unlawful agreement to commit two
a more predicate acts and further into that conspiracy. So
we got assault, we got drug trafficking, we got sex trafficked.
We even have arson, nancy, bribery, intimidation of witnesses, so
a lot going on with that reco charge. Then we
have the two substantive counts. There's the sex trafficking across
(21:10):
state lines. That's that federal hook. And you know, sex
between consenting adults isn't illegal, but if there's fraud, force,
or coercion it is, then it becomes rape. Then it
becomes trafficking. So that's that allegation. And then we have
prostitution across state lines. So money is paid. Again, that's
that federal jurisdiction.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Naima, talking of money when you refer to money being
paid in furtherance of the criminal enterprise.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
And paragraph four.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
It directly names the Cassi Ventia video and it describes
it says a woman, but it says comes dragkick and
through a vase at a woman as she was attempting
to leave, and when a member of hotel security intervene
and tried to stop him, he tried to bribe the
staff member to ensure violence. Okay, I mean to ensure silence.
(22:02):
That goes hand in hand with what you're saying, Nima.
Speaker 6 (22:05):
Well it does. And we know that he paid tens
of thousands of dollars for that video. What he didn't
know is the hotel staff maintained a copy and CNN
got a hold of that video. So this is just
part of the pattern. And even after the raids of
his Miami and Los Angeles homes, there's phone calls reporterly
where Diddy is trying to bribe and dissuade witnesses. So
(22:26):
there's two ways he does it. Apparently, if you look
at allegations, he tries to pay them off, and we
know a lot of them have filed civil lawsits and
I wouldn't be surprised if he's trying to buy their silence.
And the other is, of course the force. Right you
look at the indictment. He has three AR fifteen's with
obliterated serial numbers, lots of guns, there's beatings, there's threats.
So Diddy is going to do everything he can to
(22:49):
prevent these witnesses and victims from testifying a trial.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Hey, Nima, it's really hard for anybody to be a
gun charge because all the states got a show is
it's an illegal weapon with the numbers, the serial numbers
scratched off, and it's in your possession. That's it. That
is a federal gun charge. It's really hard to beat that.
But Nima and Romani in here we see in the
(23:12):
indictment that we've just gotten, we managed to get ahead,
get it before it was read in court. The Feds
are so smart, Nima. Have you ever seen fishers fisher
people use not just a rod and real but a net.
That's what they've got here, Nima. And if you could
explain as a FED, a former FED, they talk about
(23:36):
security staff, employees, staff domestic people, all sorts of administrative
employees that helped and enabled Combs. And what they're doing
is they're throwing out a net and by doing this
they can catch all of them as unnamed co conspirators.
Explain the significance of what they have very wisely done
(24:00):
in this indictment.
Speaker 6 (24:01):
So and in indictment that alleged conspiracy requires an unlawful
agreement between two or more people. But you don't I
have to charge the two or more people. They can
be unindicted co conspirators, which means that they're named or
not and they're not charged. But any good lawyer knows
that they can be charged and they can be on
the hook for all this. And talking about the freak ASTs.
(24:23):
If you read the indictment, there's a lot of materials
in it. They need bedsheets, they talked about the baby oil.
They need the drugs, they need the Ivyes, they need
the lighting, they need the cameras. So these individuals that
were part of Diddy's circle, they provided all of this, Yes,
as the indictment alleges.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
In late twenty twenty three, after public allegations were made
about Combs's crimes, he and others pressured witnesses and victims
to stay silent, including by making phone calls to witnesses
and victims and giving them a false narrative of what
they had experienced.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Sean Puppy Combs in federal custody.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
He was arrested last night the cover of darkness at
the Park Hyatt Hotel downtown Manhattan, fifty seventh Street. The
arrest was sooner than the Feds had anticipated. Something triggered
them to have the arrest go down immediately. And I
can guarantee you as Combs was filmed out on the street,
(25:21):
bsing with his friends, cohorts and fans, the FEDS had
eyes on him until he went back in that hotel.
How do I know that, Because if we saw a
video of him and he was out on the street
thirty minutes later the arrest goes down, all those Feds
were in place in case things went sideways.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
We know Shampa he.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Combs had multiple firearms, many of them illegal, And when
you're making an.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Arrest, you never know what's going to go wrong.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
I mean Chris mcdunn and joining me, Director Cold Case's Foundation,
former homicide detective, over three hundred homicide investigation Center's belt.
You and I have been on many arrayed and many
an arrest, and when that happens, you don't know what
idiot's going to grab a gun and start shooting Chris.
Speaker 9 (26:13):
Yeah, that's a very high risk situation, Nancy.
Speaker 10 (26:16):
And in a scenario like this where you have an
individual who is basically what we would call an anger
retaliatory predator, he is capable of anything.
Speaker 9 (26:28):
And so the FEDS were probably way on top of this.
Speaker 11 (26:32):
With either what they call a T three weren't where
they're sitting in a box somewhere and listening to all
of the conversations going on, especially with something this higher profile,
or they had a criminal informant in the game and
somebody tipped off something that puts put this whole thing
into motion.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
You know. Another issue, and what I'm saying about the
fans being ready locked and loaded eyes on Diddy, I
guarantee they were watching him for hours and hours before
they finally moved in and had agents in place in
the fire stairwell and undercover in the lobby for real
(27:12):
with the earphones in their ear Describe me here he comes,
He's going to go on the elevator, He's coming up.
Everything was synchronized and perfectly orchestrated to ensure or try
to ensure that no one got hurt.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Diddy surprised.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
He did not think this was happening, and he is
in federal custody right now. He just saw his lawyer Agnafello,
who vows to get him out on bond.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Will that happen?
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Joining me an all star panel including Chris McDonald, Lin Shaw,
and Jelica Martinez outside Park Hyatt. But I want to
go now to Anima Romani, former fed now trial lawyer,
Kelly Hyman joining us, a trial lawyer out of Miami,
host of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Once Upon
of Crime in Hollywood. Kelly, thank you for being with us.
(28:00):
I want to talk to you about the indictment. In
paragraph four, we see a direct reference to the Cassie
venturup video where he's dragging her and beating her and
kicking her in that luxury hotel, throwing.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
A vase at her, goes on and on and on.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
But in paragraph five we see him being described as
facilitating and using his business, Combs business, to cover up
his abuse and commercial sex.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
It goes on to discuss.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
What I believe are going to be unnamed co conspirators
or at the very least witnesses, security staff, household staff,
personal assistance. And I'm reading from paragraph ten right now,
high ranking supervisors and other close associates of Combs. That
could be anybody, as Nima Romani and I were just talking,
(28:59):
that could be the I who set up the lighting
for his freak.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Freakouts.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
And what the free costs are is comes forcing women
to engage in sex acts with paid sex workers on video,
basically being raped on video by some sex worker that
you have flown in. We also know that he would
(29:28):
give the victims drugs, sometimes they didn't even know they
were drugged, and even at selige threatened them with guns.
The whole time Combs would be watching the free cough
and or masturbating. My legal point is that they've named
all these people security staff, household staff, personal assistance, supervisors,
(29:50):
other associates of.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Sean Puffy Combs.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
That's the very wide net from which to catch other
co defendants.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Kelly.
Speaker 12 (30:00):
These are serious allegations, Nancy, and it's also important to
remember the fact that he is the only one listed
in this indictment.
Speaker 6 (30:09):
So what does that mean that.
Speaker 12 (30:11):
Potentially means the fact that the other people, whether it's
people that work for him, are cooperating with the federal government,
cooperating and giving information to let them know exactly what
happened and what transpires as well.
Speaker 13 (30:25):
But it could also mean that there are co conspirators
could potentially also be charged as well. So these are
serious allegations. Now what this means is the grand jury listen.
Speaker 12 (30:37):
To evidence and based on the evidence presented to the
grand jury, they believe that there was some serious crimes
and now he is going to go to trial and
ultimately the jurors of his peers will make a determination
whether or not to find him guilty of these charges.
Speaker 9 (30:54):
We are not done.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
This investigation is ongoing, and I encourage anyone with information
about this case to come forward and to do it quickly.
Anyone with information can call one eight seven seven for
HSI KIP.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace joining me.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Sidney Sumner Crime Online dot Com investigative reporter Sidney, this
guy's got a rap sheet as long as I seventy five.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
For over and over he was tied to.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
For instance, he was tied to a deadly stampede and
Harlem ninety one, accused of sex assault after a date
arrested with Jennifer Lopez. Remember that the shootout at a club,
accused of swinging a kettle ball at a UCLA coach
That was in twenty fifteen.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
Then, I mean, I don't have to even name it all.
There's so much.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Somehow he has escaped hard jail time, Sidney Sumner, So
what is he looking at?
Speaker 1 (32:01):
Now? Tell me what you.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
Know about the arrest last night and the charges now pending.
Speaker 14 (32:06):
Well, Nancy, these are very serious charges. We have those
three counts that racketeering, conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud
or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution. These are
not charges that will be taken lightly. And not to
mention all the other things mentioned in this indictment, narcotics, offensive, kidnapping, arson, bribery,
(32:28):
and obstruction of justice. What's interesting to me those kidnapping
and arson claims. That kidnapping, we've seen that in several
of these lawsuits, the latest by Don Richard claiming that
Diddy locked her in a car for hours and left
her there. Her father had to travel from New Jersey
(32:50):
to New York to get her out of that car.
When confronted, Combs basically threatened her father, saying do you
want to ruin your daughter's music career? And the arson
we learned about that in Cassie Ventura's lawsuit. She claimed
that Diddy blew up Kid Cutty's car when she dated.
Speaker 6 (33:09):
Him for just a couple of dates.
Speaker 14 (33:11):
So we have seen a lot of this and we
know that his staff is helping him.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
Accomplish all of these crimes.
Speaker 14 (33:18):
So I don't think the Feds are going to let
Diddy off easy this time.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Chris McDonald, let me direct you to page seven of
the indictment come subjected victims to physical, emotional verbal abuse.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
You know we were talking.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
With Niema about the baby oil. Well, now we know
what all had been found doing the search of that
Miami mansion, I mean his mansion that was then put
up for sale, monitoring devices, lighting, fresh sheets, drugs, extra linens, lubricants,
(34:01):
the lighting for the freak offs, the people who would pay,
the clean hotel rooms after the freak COFs trying to
paying to mitigate room damage, arranging for travel for victims,
for commercial sex workers.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
I mean, it goes on and on and on.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
That's what they were looking for at his mansion when
they rated it. These free coffs would occur often in
hotel rooms, and that's why they're getting all that information.
You know, we were asking, we were wondering opining the
other day, why do they want all the names of
the people that were in the hotel visiting the hotel
(34:43):
room with Sean Colmes. Why don't we want their room
service orders? Why do we want to know who was
working that day, what cars they use, what tag numbers
they gave?
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Now we know why?
Speaker 9 (34:54):
Yeah, I mean all of that evidence, you know, enabling
this conspiracy of sex trafficking, etc. You know, Nancy, you know,
early in my career from eighty four to eighty six,
I was a vice investigator and I worked undercover with
the most vulnerable personalities. You know that we're out on
(35:14):
the street. This guy, you know, the doc centered earlier.
Let's just call it what it is. He was a pimp.
He is a pimp and this is all he has known.
But the problem now that we have those victims, the
girls that have come forward and will potentially testify against him,
I think you would agree those girls' lives are in
(35:36):
jeopardy starting today, big time. That has ramped up, and
so I am really concerned about the safety of these
women going forward.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
I agree, Hey, Lynn, Lynnshaw and Karen Stark. First to you, Lynnshaw.
If you look at page eight, we see a paragraph
e as an elephant where Shawn Combs's associates would observe,
stand by and watch him beat and physically injure victims,
(36:10):
keeping them from leaving locations that Sidney Summers told us about,
keeping one victim locked in a car, putting them up
in hidden locations, forcing them to remain in hiding days
at a time to recover from the injuries Sean Combs
inflicted on their bodies.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
So they would.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Stand by and watch the victims get raped. The first
trafficking case I ever had, the victim was thirteen years old.
Combs has been accused of underage rape. They would stand
by and video these women getting beaten and raped, and
in paragraph a page six, often unbeknownst to the victims,
(36:58):
they were being videoed pill He forced them to have
sex with commercial sex workers, but then that wasn't enough.
According to this, he would beat them and they would
actually have to go in hiding for days on end
to recover.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
So the world wouldn't know what comes did.
Speaker 8 (37:17):
Two of the biggest things that make money right now,
Nancy are sex trafficking and extortion. I have spoken to
different women over the years and I would say, come
forward with this case in New York, and they would say, no,
I am too scared. I'm in fear for my life,
I'm in fear for my family's lives, and I just
want to forget about it. And that is common with
(37:38):
sex trafficking victims and survivors. My biggest fear here though,
is I want to say I'm afraid. I don't want
this to turn into what I believe happened with the
Jeffrey Epstein case, where there was a lot of noise,
a lot of this, a lot of that, and then
we never, in my opinion, really got to the bottom
of that. Really, we have one person in prison, maxwell
(38:00):
a woman, what else happened? And then a lot of
those victims signed on with lawyers for class action lawsuits
and we hear nothing from them. This is my greatest
fear that this will just all disappear. We cannot let
this pimp daddy get away with this mister owning New
York City, mister parading around yesterday were Bergdorff Goodman shopping
bags and lounging on the Great Lawn in Central Park
(38:23):
all day Sunday afternoon.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
This is incredible.
Speaker 8 (38:26):
He must, I repeat, he must be put in jail,
and we must throw away the keys and make him
an example. We don't tolerate this.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
It's been a long time coming.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Sean Puffy comes in federal custody, his lawyer fighting tooth and.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
Nail to get him out on bond.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
We have the federal indictment, pages and pages and pages
of allegations straight out to Kelly Hyman, joining US veteran
trial lawyer.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
Kelly.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
If you look at this, the Feds did it up
right because they name all of these charges. They implicate
unnamed co conspirators which may turn out to be witnesses
against him, but they throw in racketeering. I want to
explain that because it sounds very confusing. Rico racketeering. It's
(39:14):
called a criminal enterprise. It's normally reserved for the mob,
where you'd have a godfather ruling over hundreds of thugs, okay,
getting them to do his will, carrying out murders, rapes, pimping, theft, drugs,
you name, it. They were all acting in concert. That's
(39:37):
what they have alleged here. Why is that important Because
it's easy to convict somebody on racketeering, as it's easy
to convict somebody on a gun charge.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
Jump in.
Speaker 12 (39:49):
The evidence is going to be key. So when you
look at racketeering cases, you're looking at allegations of a conspiracy,
some type of planned, some type of way that they
came together and based on the allegations, they're alleging that
there was in fact this conspiracy and the only person
that it benefited was Sean Combs, was p Diddy. He's
(40:10):
the only one that benefited from this. And they conspire
together as allegations that if someone was going to say
something that there was allegations of.
Speaker 13 (40:19):
Threat or harm to them.
Speaker 12 (40:20):
So they were all working together, they were all conspiring,
and that was the criminal in fact enterprise to harm
these women. As someone who represents women that have been
in human traffic and self trafficking, the allegations in this
case are very.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
Severe and this is going to really hurt him. And
the forfeiture allegation paragraph on page twelve, it's eighteen. It's
talking about forfeiture allegations. I'm talking about going after Diddy's money.
You know what to hey with the money? What about
(40:56):
these victims. Many people think, Oh, they did it for
the money. They did it for the career. They were
raped on video, drugged and raped, beaten kicked, forced to
hide out until their bruises went away. There is no
(41:16):
defense to that, according to the allegations. We wait and
watch as justice unfolds. If Sean Combs manages to walk
out on bond, yes, he'll be released for now. Nancy
Grace signing off, goodbye friend,
Crime Stores with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Cuff Daddy Shawncom's arrested by the Feds in a luxe
hotel in the dark of night, Now in federal custody.
I'm Nancy Grace, this is Crime Stories. Thank you for
being with us today.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I'm announcing the unsealing of a three count indictment charging
Shawn Combs with racketeering, conspiracy, sex trafficking, interstate transportation for prostitution.
The indictment alleges that between at least two thousand and
eight and the present Comb's abuse threatened and coerce victims
to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal
(00:43):
his conduct. As a legend of the indictment, to carry
out this conduct, Shawn Combs led and participated in a
racketeering conspiracy that used the business empire he controlled to
carry out criminal activity including sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery,
(01:04):
and the obstruction of justice.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
And we have just gotten our hands on the federal indictment.
But first let's talk about what went down in the
dark of night. Sean Puffy Combs seen out on the
street in New York just thirty minutes before Fed's break
into his luxury suite at the Park Hyatt Hotel on
fifty seventh Street and arrest Combs and proceed to shred
(01:30):
that hotel room looking for evidence. Joining me right now
at the hotel just outside the Park Hyatt is crimeonline
dot Com investigative reporter Angelica Martinez. Angelica, thank you for
being with us. Tell me what happened right there last night.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
Yes, Nancy, we are currently outside the high end hotel,
the Park Hyatt Hotel, where Sean.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Puffy Combs was arrested last night. He was arrested.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Following a indictment that was turned by a grand jury
on Monday, and that's set in the process to arrest
Sean Combe.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Guys joining us a Jelica Martinez at the Park Hyatt,
we understand that Fed's pursue it to warrant, went into Combs'
room right behind you, up on one of the penthouse
levels and arrested comes last night. He had no idea
it was about to happen. We've also heard reports the
arrest was to go down at least forty eight if
(02:28):
seventy two hours later, but something triggered the FEDS to
make the arrest last night. Comb's actually spotted out on
the street and videoed bsing with fans and friends just before,
literally minutes before.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
The FEDS arrested him.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I know they were poised outside the park Hyatt Hotel
where you're standing right now, Angelica, waiting for him to
come back in with eyes on Sean Puffy comes the
entire evening, Angelica.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
Yes, So apparently goociations for shawcom Surrender had been in
the talks for a while, and like you said, Nancy,
something triggered this arrest. Something happened that caused them to
move it from allegedly later in this week to just
last night. He was allegedly arrested right in the lobby,
(03:17):
and he was not expecting that, according to some.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Sources, Angelica, I think I know what may have prompted
the early arrest. You know, you're about twenty thirty minutes
from Teeterborough private airstrip.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Combs has money.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
You can get on a private plane without a passport
now where you can land without one as a whole
another can of worms. But if they got win that
he was leaving with all of his money and access
to private planes, that's the time you make the arrest
ahead of time, joining me there at the Park Heyatt
Hotel in the heart of Manhattan, Angelica Martinez, let's open
(03:54):
it up to the panel and the last few moments,
we caught the lawyer, the defense attorney Agna Fellow, and
he states his client is going to be released. Do
you really believe that Sean Puffy Combs is going to
get out on bond?
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Straight out to high profile.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Lawyer Nima Romani, former federal prosecutor, President West Coast Trial
Lawyers and author of Harvard to hashtag. He is an
expert in federal law. Nima, thank you for being with us.
Quick question regarding bond. Now we know that Combs was
held overnight and he is with the Feds right now.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
You know his lawyer is.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Going to make a big play for him to get
out on bond and make a big show, probably walking
along Park Avenue maybe Fifth Avenue, wearing his fur coat
as if he has a worry in the world. Why
do I say that, because when you don't know a horse, Nima,
look at his track record that has been his inmost.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Since the get go. Hey, you're raiding my house, no problem.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
I'm out surfing watersports with my family living it up
with some champagne.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Yeah, that's him.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
That's his INMO to act like nothing is wrong and
give the illusion of complete innocence and care free.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Do you think they're gonna give him bond?
Speaker 6 (05:19):
Nancy's really up to the judge. I don't think he
deserves bond, because we're talking about some very serious charges, right,
and bond is appropriate when an individual is not a
risk of flight or a danger to the community, and
like you said, he's both. We're talking about someone that's
engaged in violence, drug offenses, sex offenses, firearms allegations. There.
This is someone who's violent, and of course he is
(05:40):
essentially unlimited means and can take off. Now, there's going
to be detention hearing, usually within three court days of
the first appearance, and a judge is going to have
to decide whether there's no condition or combination of conditions
that can guarantee Diddy's appearance in court. I think, even
though I disagree, if you put a gun to my head,
I think he is going to be granted some sort
(06:02):
of bond, even though I don't think he deserves it.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Nima Ramani, if it were anybody but Sean Puffy comes,
they would not get bond because.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
This is a huge federal indictment.
Speaker 6 (06:12):
You're a FED.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
I was a FED.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
You know how long it's taken them to put this
thing together. All it takes is one private flight to
another country.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
He's gone.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
I mean, look, we've never been able to get Roman
Polansky back, and many many others we see ours. Think
of Kanye, for Pete's sake, who records in Paris. He
doesn't need to be in the US. This indictment shows
a vast criminal enterprise. What are we learning. We're learning
that there are co conspirators. But I want to tell you,
(06:43):
Nima and the rest of the panel, listen to this.
In the very beginning and the very first line. For decades,
the defendant abused, threatening, coerced women and others around him
to fulfill sex desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
And that is exactly what he's been doing.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Straight back out on the street, joining us in front
of the park Hyatt Hotel. Crimeonline dot Com investigative reporter
Angelica Martinez Angelica as late as last night, thirty minutes
before he is arrested by the Feds, he's out like
he doesn't have a care in the world, bsing, playing
around on the streets with his cohorts. So that's his
(07:26):
mo He always has the facade, the veneer of successful
rap mogul billionaire out on yachts, living it up, dripping
in furs and diamonds. But that's the way he portrays himself,
and right here in the federal indictment we see that's
(07:47):
part of his modus operendi, forcing others to fulfill his
sex desires, in other words, raping them while protecting his
reputation and concealing his conduct.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Angelica.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
So he did. He definitely has a history of this.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
If we look back to when his La and Miami
homes were rated back in March, he did. He was
out living his life in Miami with not a care
in the world, taking pictures with fans and you know,
posing for Instagram lives, and so that's definitely part of
the persona he has tried to keep up and has
done so successfully for.
Speaker 5 (08:24):
These past couple of decades. You know, he did.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
He was the guy you wanted to be around, you
wanted to have parties with, get invited to his you know, luxurious,
amazing white parties. As we heard from the latest lawsuit
from Adria English, who was one of those participants in
the White parties. So you know, he spent the night
in federal custody, which is quite the contrast from this
(08:48):
very luxurious Highatt hotel we have behind me and you know,
as you said, in the heart of Manhattan.
Speaker 5 (08:54):
So yeah, very very interesting stuff going down with he.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Did he You know, the indictment is naming cohorts, but
who will they end up being. It gives veiled references
to security guards, seven other businesses, employees that worked for
Comes and enabled him to basically run a sex trafficking enterprise.
(09:22):
What does that mean? Rico racketeering. It was first reserved
for the mob. The mob, This is what it means.
Let me break it down, jump in with me, Nima Romani. First,
you have a predicate act. That can be a rape,
It can be a murder of Chupac Sukure, it can
be any number of state crimes. But that predicate acts
(09:46):
like the center of a big spider web. And there
are other people helping you enlist sex victims to enlist
in further your criminal enterprise. That is how the fans
are going to bring in other witnesses as defendants and
(10:09):
in the end, Ramani, they are going to rap out comes.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Agree, disagree?
Speaker 6 (10:15):
Oh agree? Because when you're dealing with a Rico conspiracy,
anyone who participates in the conspiracy, they're on the hook
for all the substantive acts and further into the conspiracy.
So what does that mean someone called or help to
get one of these commercial sex workers and they're raped
by force, They're on the hook even if they didn't
participate in the rape. So the Feds have a lot
(10:37):
of leverage in these reco cases. And like you said,
you don't need a whole lot to prove Rico. You
don't need a mob or the carteler shriekings, you need
a criminal enterprise.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Ramone.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
We just got our hands on this very lengthy federal
indemond and you know, the de Feds go, the fans
go whole hog. They're not going to charge you one
or two counts. I'd like to direct your attention to
paragraph twelve A Combs and other members and associates of
Comb's enterprise. There's your witnesses right there, wielded power and
(11:08):
prestige and would have repeat freak offs. Freak offs, the fez.
Their words, not mine. They were elaborate and produced sex
performances that Combs himself arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often
(11:29):
electronically recorded.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
A freak off in arranging them.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Combs, listen, Here's the witnesses with the assistants and members
and associates of Comb's enterprise. Here's the crime transported caused
to be transported sex workers across state lines and internationally.
They occurred regularly, sometimes lasted multiple days, involved multiple commercial
(11:59):
sex workers, and during the free coughs.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
That's just a nice word.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
That's just a nice phrase for forcing women to be
videoed while they're being raped. During their free coughs, Combs
distributed drugs to victims to keep them obedient and compliant. Sometimes,
unbeknownst to the victims, Combs kept videos filmed of victims
in sex acts with sex workers.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Did you hear that?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
That's exactly Nema Romani what Cassie Venturis said in her lawsuit.
Then he would force her to complete sex acts.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
With sex workers, and he would video it.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
After freak offs, Combs and victims got IV fluids to
recover from all the drug use and physical exertion. Can
you hear what I'm saying, Romani? Can you hear the
freak coughs I do? This is all consistent with what
Cassie told us almost.
Speaker 6 (13:04):
A year ago in November. She was forced to have
sex with these sex workers? Did he recorded it? So
there's gonna be a treasure trove of evidence. And if
you look at that indictment, they recovered one thousand bottles
of baby oil, Nancy, one thousand that were used in
these sex acts. So these are women who were brought
and sometimes men, and they were forced to commit sex.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Name of Ramani.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
You know what, didn't you go to Harvard? I did
your instructor at Harvard? Did you ever imagine that you
would be right here right now with me talking about.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
A billionaires many?
Speaker 2 (13:39):
How many bottles of baby oil did he have for
his free coughs?
Speaker 6 (13:44):
How many more than a thousand? Nancy? I never thought
when I graduated Harvard Law School at age twenty two,
I would be talking about did he rolling around in
baby oil with commercial sex workers? So the answer to
that is no, me either.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
But this is just a tiny tape of what we're
getting right here. And I'll tell you what I think,
Ramani and the Feds are not gonna like it, but
they were facing the prospect of being a toothless tiger,
a house cat. They had Kazi Ventura, and a video
(14:19):
leaked of him beating her, kicking her, dragging her up
and down the halls of a hotel.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
On video, a grown man.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Out in the hall wearing nothing but a towel, beating
her viciously and dragging her back to his hotel room
to do what, rape her, that's my allegation. And they
were doing nothing. There was a stream of people saying,
he raped me, he made me have sex with sex workers,
he videoed it. There's the Tupac Secure Cloud murder hanging
(14:51):
over him. So what were the FEDS going to do?
Sit back and twiddle their thumbs. No, they had to act.
Speaker 6 (14:58):
Ramani Well, of course that to act. We've all seen
that video of Diddy beating Cassie in twenty sixteen, and
you know, when you're talking about Rico, there's a ten
year window for those credited acts. So that window was.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Coming up two thousand and sixteen, Ramani twenty sixteen, nearly
ten years ago. They had to act or else hang
their head in shame.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Nima.
Speaker 6 (15:22):
They did, and their window was closing. Man, see if
they didn't file this, and we were asking why did
it take six months? If they didn't file all of
a sudden, some of these counts they can fall off
because of the statute of limitation, So the Feds had
to finally act. There was a lot of pressure on them.
Victim after victim was coming forward. We're talking about the
(15:43):
eight or nine different lawsuits on this show. So the
question I have is why did it take so long?
Better late than ever, but justice delayed is justice denied.
So I'm glad the victims are going to finally have
their day in criminal court, although this of course will
put all those civil lawsuits on hold.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Alleged Combs use force, threats of force encasion to cause
victims to engage in extended sexual performances with male commercial
sex workers, some of whom he transported or caused to
be transported over state lines. Combs allegedly planned and controlled
the sex performances, which he called freak offs, and he
(16:22):
often electronically recorded them.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Crime Stores with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Sean Puffy Combs in custody in federal custody after being
arrested last night at the Park Hyatt Luxury Hotel, fifty
seventh Street, Manhattan. Now, the Feds seemingly had planned to
take Combs into custody at a later date, but something
(16:59):
triggered them to act last night, and then they totally
shredded his hotel room looking for evidence, joining.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Me an all star panel.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
But we caught up with his lawyer, Agnafello, and this
is what he has to say.
Speaker 7 (17:15):
He came to New York to basically engage the court
system and start the case, and it'll start today and
he's gonna plead not guilty. Obviously, he's going to fight
this with all of his energy and all of his
might and the full confidence.
Speaker 6 (17:29):
Of his lawyers.
Speaker 7 (17:30):
And I expect a long battle with a good result
for mister Commerson.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
So kill really if you.
Speaker 7 (17:36):
I'm going to fight like hell to get him released.
And he should be released with all that he's done
and coming here voluntarily. And guys, I'm going to cut
it short because I have to.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Go in all right, he should be released because of
all he's done. He should stay behind bars because all
he has done. I'm guaranteeing you if this were not
a wealthy billionaire and famous person, there would be no
chance in h double l that he would be released
on bond. I mean Lynn Shaw is joining me Founder
executive director Lynz Warriors, committed to ending sex trafficking.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Lynn Shaw. It's easy to get.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Sucked in, not me, but for many people, to get
sucked into Shawn Comes' lifestyle, his rolls, Royce's, his mansions,
his diamond rings, his fur.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Coats, his luxurious lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
You know what, the devil can wear a tuxedo and
fit right in at the symphony.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
But until you have seen what happens to sex trafficking victims,
it changes everything.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
It changes the way you.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Look at abusers allegedly like Shawn Comes, explain what these
women go through.
Speaker 8 (18:48):
First of all, I am disgusted and very angry, Nancy.
You know they say a picture is worth a thousand words,
But in New York City, if you have a nickname,
a street name, which.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
He did, and it was pimp Daddy. Let me repeat that,
pimp Daddy.
Speaker 8 (19:05):
I am angry because the focus now, of course, is
all on him. They should lock him up and throw
away the keys to show all the victims and survivors
of sex trafficking that this is happening that this thug
is being held accountable, because if they let him out,
we will not We still have think about all the
(19:26):
women who have not come forward. How about all the
girls that were teenagers. Nobody's talking about that yet, that
are afraid to come forward. Now, women, I want to
remind you, I started out of college in the music business.
I have always heard from girls and women about this
whole criminal cartel going up through the hip hop then
(19:47):
becoming rap and Pimp Daddy that is what they called
him ten years ago. What has taken so long? So
I want to remind everybody. Although this is all going
on and it is a great day here in New
York City, we must focus on our survivors. I want
them to get equal attention. I want them to have
voices because lives have been ruined healthcare, their bodies have
(20:09):
been ruined, their minds have been ruined, and they feel
like they have nobody to turn to. There aren't the resources.
So if we show Pimp Daddy, by example, is going
to be locked up, You're going to see a lot
more women come forward. Talk about this. And as I'm
sitting here, I'm getting texts from people we told you,
we told you, we told you that have been affiliated
with him or the music business over the years. So
(20:32):
I say, let us use this as an example. Let's
get through this, lock them up, and then talk about
what we can do to support survivors.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Nama Romani, she's right, but how are we going to
do it? Taking a look at the indictment, give me
your breakdown on the charges, Nama Romani, Well, we're.
Speaker 6 (20:48):
Three sets of charges. We have a rico conspiracy. That's
that racketeering, and it's the unlawful agreement to commit two
a more predicate acts and further into that conspiracy. So
we got assault, we got drug trafficking, we got sex trafficked.
We even have arson, nancy, bribery, intimidation of witnesses, so
a lot going on with that reco charge. Then we
have the two substantive counts. There's the sex trafficking across
(21:10):
state lines. That's that federal hook. And you know, sex
between consenting adults isn't illegal, but if there's fraud, force,
or coercion it is, then it becomes rape. Then it
becomes trafficking. So that's that allegation. And then we have
prostitution across state lines. So money is paid. Again, that's
that federal jurisdiction.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Naima, talking of money when you refer to money being
paid in furtherance of the criminal enterprise.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
And paragraph four.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
It directly names the Cassi Ventia video and it describes
it says a woman, but it says comes dragkick and
through a vase at a woman as she was attempting
to leave, and when a member of hotel security intervene
and tried to stop him, he tried to bribe the
staff member to ensure violence. Okay, I mean to ensure silence.
(22:02):
That goes hand in hand with what you're saying, Nima.
Speaker 6 (22:05):
Well it does. And we know that he paid tens
of thousands of dollars for that video. What he didn't
know is the hotel staff maintained a copy and CNN
got a hold of that video. So this is just
part of the pattern. And even after the raids of
his Miami and Los Angeles homes, there's phone calls reporterly
where Diddy is trying to bribe and dissuade witnesses. So
(22:26):
there's two ways he does it. Apparently, if you look
at allegations, he tries to pay them off, and we
know a lot of them have filed civil lawsits and
I wouldn't be surprised if he's trying to buy their silence.
And the other is, of course the force. Right you
look at the indictment. He has three AR fifteen's with
obliterated serial numbers, lots of guns, there's beatings, there's threats.
So Diddy is going to do everything he can to
(22:49):
prevent these witnesses and victims from testifying a trial.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Hey, Nima, it's really hard for anybody to be a
gun charge because all the states got a show is
it's an illegal weapon with the numbers, the serial numbers
scratched off, and it's in your possession. That's it. That
is a federal gun charge. It's really hard to beat that.
But Nima and Romani in here we see in the
(23:12):
indictment that we've just gotten, we managed to get ahead,
get it before it was read in court. The Feds
are so smart, Nima. Have you ever seen fishers fisher
people use not just a rod and real but a net.
That's what they've got here, Nima. And if you could
explain as a FED, a former FED, they talk about
(23:36):
security staff, employees, staff domestic people, all sorts of administrative
employees that helped and enabled Combs. And what they're doing
is they're throwing out a net and by doing this
they can catch all of them as unnamed co conspirators.
Explain the significance of what they have very wisely done
(24:00):
in this indictment.
Speaker 6 (24:01):
So and in indictment that alleged conspiracy requires an unlawful
agreement between two or more people. But you don't I
have to charge the two or more people. They can
be unindicted co conspirators, which means that they're named or
not and they're not charged. But any good lawyer knows
that they can be charged and they can be on
the hook for all this. And talking about the freak ASTs.
(24:23):
If you read the indictment, there's a lot of materials
in it. They need bedsheets, they talked about the baby oil.
They need the drugs, they need the Ivyes, they need
the lighting, they need the cameras. So these individuals that
were part of Diddy's circle, they provided all of this, Yes,
as the indictment alleges.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
In late twenty twenty three, after public allegations were made
about Combs's crimes, he and others pressured witnesses and victims
to stay silent, including by making phone calls to witnesses
and victims and giving them a false narrative of what
they had experienced.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Sean Puppy Combs in federal custody.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
He was arrested last night the cover of darkness at
the Park Hyatt Hotel downtown Manhattan, fifty seventh Street. The
arrest was sooner than the Feds had anticipated. Something triggered
them to have the arrest go down immediately. And I
can guarantee you as Combs was filmed out on the street,
(25:21):
bsing with his friends, cohorts and fans, the FEDS had
eyes on him until he went back in that hotel.
How do I know that, Because if we saw a
video of him and he was out on the street
thirty minutes later the arrest goes down, all those Feds
were in place in case things went sideways.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
We know Shampa he.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Combs had multiple firearms, many of them illegal, And when
you're making an.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Arrest, you never know what's going to go wrong.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
I mean Chris mcdunn and joining me, Director Cold Case's Foundation,
former homicide detective, over three hundred homicide investigation Center's belt.
You and I have been on many arrayed and many
an arrest, and when that happens, you don't know what
idiot's going to grab a gun and start shooting Chris.
Speaker 9 (26:13):
Yeah, that's a very high risk situation, Nancy.
Speaker 10 (26:16):
And in a scenario like this where you have an
individual who is basically what we would call an anger
retaliatory predator, he is capable of anything.
Speaker 9 (26:28):
And so the FEDS were probably way on top of this.
Speaker 11 (26:32):
With either what they call a T three weren't where
they're sitting in a box somewhere and listening to all
of the conversations going on, especially with something this higher profile,
or they had a criminal informant in the game and
somebody tipped off something that puts put this whole thing
into motion.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
You know. Another issue, and what I'm saying about the
fans being ready locked and loaded eyes on Diddy, I
guarantee they were watching him for hours and hours before
they finally moved in and had agents in place in
the fire stairwell and undercover in the lobby for real
(27:12):
with the earphones in their ear Describe me here he comes,
He's going to go on the elevator, He's coming up.
Everything was synchronized and perfectly orchestrated to ensure or try
to ensure that no one got hurt.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Diddy surprised.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
He did not think this was happening, and he is
in federal custody right now. He just saw his lawyer Agnafello,
who vows to get him out on bond.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Will that happen?
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Joining me an all star panel including Chris McDonald, Lin Shaw,
and Jelica Martinez outside Park Hyatt. But I want to
go now to Anima Romani, former fed now trial lawyer,
Kelly Hyman joining us, a trial lawyer out of Miami,
host of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Once Upon
of Crime in Hollywood. Kelly, thank you for being with us.
(28:00):
I want to talk to you about the indictment. In
paragraph four, we see a direct reference to the Cassie
venturup video where he's dragging her and beating her and
kicking her in that luxury hotel, throwing.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
A vase at her, goes on and on and on.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
But in paragraph five we see him being described as
facilitating and using his business, Combs business, to cover up
his abuse and commercial sex.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
It goes on to discuss.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
What I believe are going to be unnamed co conspirators
or at the very least witnesses, security staff, household staff,
personal assistance. And I'm reading from paragraph ten right now,
high ranking supervisors and other close associates of Combs. That
could be anybody, as Nima Romani and I were just talking,
(28:59):
that could be the I who set up the lighting
for his freak.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Freakouts.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
And what the free costs are is comes forcing women
to engage in sex acts with paid sex workers on video,
basically being raped on video by some sex worker that
you have flown in. We also know that he would
(29:28):
give the victims drugs, sometimes they didn't even know they
were drugged, and even at selige threatened them with guns.
The whole time Combs would be watching the free cough
and or masturbating. My legal point is that they've named
all these people security staff, household staff, personal assistance, supervisors,
(29:50):
other associates of.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Sean Puffy Combs.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
That's the very wide net from which to catch other
co defendants.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Kelly.
Speaker 12 (30:00):
These are serious allegations, Nancy, and it's also important to
remember the fact that he is the only one listed
in this indictment.
Speaker 6 (30:09):
So what does that mean that.
Speaker 12 (30:11):
Potentially means the fact that the other people, whether it's
people that work for him, are cooperating with the federal government,
cooperating and giving information to let them know exactly what
happened and what transpires as well.
Speaker 13 (30:25):
But it could also mean that there are co conspirators
could potentially also be charged as well. So these are
serious allegations. Now what this means is the grand jury listen.
Speaker 12 (30:37):
To evidence and based on the evidence presented to the
grand jury, they believe that there was some serious crimes
and now he is going to go to trial and
ultimately the jurors of his peers will make a determination
whether or not to find him guilty of these charges.
Speaker 9 (30:54):
We are not done.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
This investigation is ongoing, and I encourage anyone with information
about this case to come forward and to do it quickly.
Anyone with information can call one eight seven seven for
HSI KIP.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace joining me.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Sidney Sumner Crime Online dot Com investigative reporter Sidney, this
guy's got a rap sheet as long as I seventy five.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
For over and over he was tied to.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
For instance, he was tied to a deadly stampede and
Harlem ninety one, accused of sex assault after a date
arrested with Jennifer Lopez. Remember that the shootout at a club,
accused of swinging a kettle ball at a UCLA coach
That was in twenty fifteen.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
Then, I mean, I don't have to even name it all.
There's so much.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Somehow he has escaped hard jail time, Sidney Sumner, So
what is he looking at?
Speaker 1 (32:01):
Now? Tell me what you.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
Know about the arrest last night and the charges now pending.
Speaker 14 (32:06):
Well, Nancy, these are very serious charges. We have those
three counts that racketeering, conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud
or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution. These are
not charges that will be taken lightly. And not to
mention all the other things mentioned in this indictment, narcotics, offensive, kidnapping, arson, bribery,
(32:28):
and obstruction of justice. What's interesting to me those kidnapping
and arson claims. That kidnapping, we've seen that in several
of these lawsuits, the latest by Don Richard claiming that
Diddy locked her in a car for hours and left
her there. Her father had to travel from New Jersey
(32:50):
to New York to get her out of that car.
When confronted, Combs basically threatened her father, saying do you
want to ruin your daughter's music career? And the arson
we learned about that in Cassie Ventura's lawsuit. She claimed
that Diddy blew up Kid Cutty's car when she dated.
Speaker 6 (33:09):
Him for just a couple of dates.
Speaker 14 (33:11):
So we have seen a lot of this and we
know that his staff is helping him.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
Accomplish all of these crimes.
Speaker 14 (33:18):
So I don't think the Feds are going to let
Diddy off easy this time.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Chris McDonald, let me direct you to page seven of
the indictment come subjected victims to physical, emotional verbal abuse.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
You know we were talking.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
With Niema about the baby oil. Well, now we know
what all had been found doing the search of that
Miami mansion, I mean his mansion that was then put
up for sale, monitoring devices, lighting, fresh sheets, drugs, extra linens, lubricants,
(34:01):
the lighting for the freak offs, the people who would pay,
the clean hotel rooms after the freak COFs trying to
paying to mitigate room damage, arranging for travel for victims,
for commercial sex workers.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
I mean, it goes on and on and on.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
That's what they were looking for at his mansion when
they rated it. These free coffs would occur often in
hotel rooms, and that's why they're getting all that information.
You know, we were asking, we were wondering opining the
other day, why do they want all the names of
the people that were in the hotel visiting the hotel
(34:43):
room with Sean Colmes. Why don't we want their room
service orders? Why do we want to know who was
working that day, what cars they use, what tag numbers
they gave?
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Now we know why?
Speaker 9 (34:54):
Yeah, I mean all of that evidence, you know, enabling
this conspiracy of sex trafficking, etc. You know, Nancy, you know,
early in my career from eighty four to eighty six,
I was a vice investigator and I worked undercover with
the most vulnerable personalities. You know that we're out on
(35:14):
the street. This guy, you know, the doc centered earlier.
Let's just call it what it is. He was a pimp.
He is a pimp and this is all he has known.
But the problem now that we have those victims, the
girls that have come forward and will potentially testify against him,
I think you would agree those girls' lives are in
(35:36):
jeopardy starting today, big time. That has ramped up, and
so I am really concerned about the safety of these
women going forward.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
I agree, Hey, Lynn, Lynnshaw and Karen Stark. First to you, Lynnshaw.
If you look at page eight, we see a paragraph
e as an elephant where Shawn Combs's associates would observe,
stand by and watch him beat and physically injure victims,
(36:10):
keeping them from leaving locations that Sidney Summers told us about,
keeping one victim locked in a car, putting them up
in hidden locations, forcing them to remain in hiding days
at a time to recover from the injuries Sean Combs
inflicted on their bodies.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
So they would.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Stand by and watch the victims get raped. The first
trafficking case I ever had, the victim was thirteen years old.
Combs has been accused of underage rape. They would stand
by and video these women getting beaten and raped, and
in paragraph a page six, often unbeknownst to the victims,
(36:58):
they were being videoed pill He forced them to have
sex with commercial sex workers, but then that wasn't enough.
According to this, he would beat them and they would
actually have to go in hiding for days on end
to recover.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
So the world wouldn't know what comes did.
Speaker 8 (37:17):
Two of the biggest things that make money right now,
Nancy are sex trafficking and extortion. I have spoken to
different women over the years and I would say, come
forward with this case in New York, and they would say, no,
I am too scared. I'm in fear for my life,
I'm in fear for my family's lives, and I just
want to forget about it. And that is common with
(37:38):
sex trafficking victims and survivors. My biggest fear here though,
is I want to say I'm afraid. I don't want
this to turn into what I believe happened with the
Jeffrey Epstein case, where there was a lot of noise,
a lot of this, a lot of that, and then
we never, in my opinion, really got to the bottom
of that. Really, we have one person in prison, maxwell
(38:00):
a woman, what else happened? And then a lot of
those victims signed on with lawyers for class action lawsuits
and we hear nothing from them. This is my greatest
fear that this will just all disappear. We cannot let
this pimp daddy get away with this mister owning New
York City, mister parading around yesterday were Bergdorff Goodman shopping
bags and lounging on the Great Lawn in Central Park
(38:23):
all day Sunday afternoon.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
This is incredible.
Speaker 8 (38:26):
He must, I repeat, he must be put in jail,
and we must throw away the keys and make him
an example. We don't tolerate this.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
It's been a long time coming.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Sean Puffy comes in federal custody, his lawyer fighting tooth and.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
Nail to get him out on bond.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
We have the federal indictment, pages and pages and pages
of allegations straight out to Kelly Hyman, joining US veteran
trial lawyer.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
Kelly.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
If you look at this, the Feds did it up
right because they name all of these charges. They implicate
unnamed co conspirators which may turn out to be witnesses
against him, but they throw in racketeering. I want to
explain that because it sounds very confusing. Rico racketeering. It's
(39:14):
called a criminal enterprise. It's normally reserved for the mob,
where you'd have a godfather ruling over hundreds of thugs, okay,
getting them to do his will, carrying out murders, rapes, pimping, theft, drugs,
you name, it. They were all acting in concert. That's
(39:37):
what they have alleged here. Why is that important Because
it's easy to convict somebody on racketeering, as it's easy
to convict somebody on a gun charge.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
Jump in.
Speaker 12 (39:49):
The evidence is going to be key. So when you
look at racketeering cases, you're looking at allegations of a conspiracy,
some type of planned, some type of way that they
came together and based on the allegations, they're alleging that
there was in fact this conspiracy and the only person
that it benefited was Sean Combs, was p Diddy. He's
(40:10):
the only one that benefited from this. And they conspire
together as allegations that if someone was going to say
something that there was allegations of.
Speaker 13 (40:19):
Threat or harm to them.
Speaker 12 (40:20):
So they were all working together, they were all conspiring,
and that was the criminal in fact enterprise to harm
these women. As someone who represents women that have been
in human traffic and self trafficking, the allegations in this
case are very.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
Severe and this is going to really hurt him. And
the forfeiture allegation paragraph on page twelve, it's eighteen. It's
talking about forfeiture allegations. I'm talking about going after Diddy's money.
You know what to hey with the money? What about
(40:56):
these victims. Many people think, Oh, they did it for
the money. They did it for the career. They were
raped on video, drugged and raped, beaten kicked, forced to
hide out until their bruises went away. There is no
(41:16):
defense to that, according to the allegations. We wait and
watch as justice unfolds. If Sean Combs manages to walk
out on bond, yes, he'll be released for now. Nancy
Grace signing off, goodbye friend,
Host
Nancy Grace
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