Sean 'Diddy' Combs charged with sex trafficking in sprawling indictment, held without bail

Sean "Diddy" Combs is being held without bail after he was charged with sex trafficking by force, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy, alleging he ran an "enterprise that he engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor or, kidnapping, arson and other crimes," according to the indictment unsealed Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors said Combs "abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct" from 2008 to now. The allegations mirror 11 civil complaints filed against him since 2023.

Combs, wearing a black T-shirt and gray sweatpants, made his first appearance in a New York City federal courtroom on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty.

Combs, with help from Combs Enterprise associates, is accused of transporting commercial sex workers across state lines and internationally, the indictment said.

Combs allegedly "manipulated women to participate in highly orchestrated performances of sexual activity with male commercial sex workers," the indictment said, and he allegedly coerced the women into participating by giving them drugs, "controlling their careers, leveraging his financial support and threatening to cut off the same, and using intimidation and violence."

"Sometimes unbeknownst to the victims, Combs kept videos he filmed of victims engaging in sex acts with commercial sex workers," federal prosecutors said.

The music mogul's lawyer suggested the sex trafficking charge is an example of government misjudging consensual conduct.

Combs is accused of verbal, emotional, physical and sexual abuse, the federal indictment said.

The indictment alleges Combs' victims were enmeshed in a web of control through "physical violence" and the promise of career advancement, with Combs "granting and threatening to withhold financial support, and by other coercive means, including tracking their whereabouts, dictating the victims' appearance, monitoring their medical records, controlling their housing, and supplying them with controlled substances."

When Combs didn't "get his way, he was violent," Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said at a news conference Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors mention the 2016 hotel surveillance video that showed Combs allegedly physically assaulting his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.

When a hotel security worker intervened, Combs tried to bribe the worker with a "stack of cash" to keep the incident quiet, Williams said.

Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo suggested Tuesday that the video of Combs assaulting Ventura wasn't evidence of sex trafficking, but of a relationship deteriorating. He said, before the assault which was caught on surveillance video, Ventura hit Combs with his phone while he was sleeping, because she discovered text messages from other women.

Combs is accused of carrying guns to intimidate or threaten witnesses, Williams said.

In a search at Combs' Miami home, police found three AR-15 rifles and a drum magazine, prosecutors said. Agnifilo asserted the guns belong to Combs' private security.

Combs was arrested at the Park Hyatt hotel in Midtown Manhattan Monday night and he spent the night in federal custody, sources told ABC News.

Agnifilo said Combs has anticipated federal charges ever since the March raids on his homes in Florida and California.

Combs' spirits are good, Agnifilo said, adding, "He's dealing with this head on the way he has dealt with every challenge in his life."

At Combs' court appearance Tuesday, several of his children and his sister looked on from the gallery, as did attorneys for some of the victims who have filed civil lawsuits.

Assistant U.S. attorney Emily Johnson told the court Combs "is a serial abuser and a serial obstructor."

Johnson said prosecutors have interviewed at least a dozen witnesses who could testify to seeing women injured as a result of violence Combs inflicted, Johnson said.

At court on Tuesday, Judge Robyn Tarnofsky ordered Combs detained pending trial, saying, "My concern is that this is a crime that happens behind closed doors."

The judge noted the "power imbalance" between Combs and the alleged victims, and she mentioned Combs' alleged drug use and violence.

Federal prosecutors wanted Combs detained, arguing in a letter to the judge that he's "dangerous" and poses an ongoing threat to the community.

"The defendant also poses a significant risk of obstructing justice," prosecutors said. "During the course of the charged conduct, the defendant has attempted to bribe security staff and threatened and interfered with witnesses to his criminal conduct. He has already tried to obstruct the Government's investigation of this case, repeatedly contacting victims and witnesses and feeding them false narratives of events."

"There are simply no conditions that would ensure that the defendant's efforts to obstruct and tamper with witnesses will stop," prosecutors said.

Combs' attorney is appealing the decision to hold him without bail. The appeal hearing is set for Wednesday.

Agnifilo had urged the judge to release Combs on a $50 million bail package, saying his client is not the flight risk prosecutors portrayed. The lawyer said Combs arrived in New York on Sept. 5 and "came here to face it."

Agnifilo said Combs is trying to sell his private plane. Agnifilo said he took possession of his client's passport and those of five of his relatives.

He also argued that when Combs took two trips -- to a graduation party for one of his children and a whitewater rafting trip -- "we told the government where he was going."

"Trust has to be earned and we have earned it," he told the judge.

Agnifilo also mentioned that Combs is receiving "treatment and therapy" in New York.

Agnifilo said in an earlier statement, "We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney's Office. Sean 'Diddy' Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community."

"He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal," Agnifilo said. "To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide."

Williams said at his news conference that no one is above the law.

"A year ago, Sean Combs stood in Times Square and was handed a key to New York City. Today, he's been indicted and will face justice in the Southern District of New York," he said.

Williams stressed that the investigation is ongoing and he encouraged anyone with information to come forward.

Combs has been under investigation for the better part of a year since Ventura came forward with allegations in a civil lawsuit. At least 10 additional lawsuits followed. Combs has denied the allegations in all of them.

In March, when Combs' Los Angeles and Miami homes were raided by federal agents, a Homeland Security Investigations spokesperson said the raid was executed as part of an "ongoing investigation." Law enforcement sources told ABC News in March that federal agents seized a number of electronic devices as part of the court-authorized searches of Combs' two properties in the federal sex trafficking investigation.

Homeland Security Investigations, the lead agency that was responsible for investigating the allegations against Diddy did so, because they are the agency that primarily focuses on human / sex trafficking and smuggling, child exploitation, cybercrimes, narcotics, terrorism and national security threats, transnational crimes, financial crime, global trade and public safety, according to the agency's former executive director.

"Homeland Security Investigations is not new to high-profile cases, as they lead the investigations into R. Kelly, El Chapo, Anna Sorkin and Jenn Shah," former HSI Acting Executive Director Steve Francis told ABC News.

Francis said this case, while he cannot comment on specifics, "it is very similar in nature to the R.Kelly case HSI worked where special agents were responsible for a myriad of investigate actions including collecting evidence related to a wide ranging sex trafficking enterprise."