Sean “Diddy” Combs was denied bail once again Wednesday after a third contentious hearing on his possible pre-trial release.
Judge Arun Subramanian became the third Manhattan federal judge to trash the hip-hop mogul’s various attempts to be released from Brooklyn’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Center.
While behind bars, Combs, 55, has attempted to contact potential witnesses and skirted federal prison rules, according to investigators. The initial charges against him also allege he has intimidated witnesses and victims into silence.
Subramanian determined that Combs’ untrustworthy nature made it impossible to ensure the safety of the community if he was released on bail.
“Given the nature of the allegations in this case and the information provided by the government, the Court doubts the sufficiency of any conditions that place trust in Combs and individuals in his employ,” the judge wrote in his decision.
Combs’ defense team had proposed a new $50 million bail package that included a private security detail and Combs’ confinement in an Upper East Side apartment. His lawyers claimed it could be even more secure than his detention in Brooklyn MDC because he wouldn’t have access to contraband cellphones.
But prosecutors argued for Combs to remain behind bars, despite subpar conditions at the lockup. They said he was attempting to manipulate his case from prison by contacting his many associates and directing PR campaigns from his cell.
“He’s committed to concealing his crimes by any means necessary,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Slavik told the court at Friday’s detention hearing.
In the latest hearing, Combs’ defense lawyers attempted to discredit the infamous video of Combs attacking his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a hotel hallway. The hearing also centered on notepads seized from Combs’ cell, which were subject to a debate over attorney-client privilege.
Combs’ team previously claimed the notepads said “legal” when the feds seized them, but photographs showed that was not the case. Subramanian said the false representation represented another example of Combs’ lack of honesty.
Two other judges at Manhattan Federal Court had already denied Combs’ proposed bail packages after his arrest by the feds in September. He was subsequently indicted on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges and ordered held without bail.
The indictment against Combs accuses him of pressuring people to remain silent after witnessing crimes. The feds said Combs “abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct.”
Combs and others “engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice,” investigators continued.
Following Wednesday’s ruling, Combs is reportedly set for a Thanksgiving dinner of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chips and fruit.
With Molly Crane-Newman
