Sean “Diddy” Combs faces trial next year in sex trafficking and racketeering case | Ents & Arts News

Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs will go on trial next May on sex trafficking and racketeering charges.

The 54-year-old rapper, also known as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, blew kisses to his mother and children in court after a US judge set the trial date at a hearing in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday.

combs pleaded not guilty on Sept. 17 to a three-count indictment accusing him of using his business empire, including the record label Bad Boy Entertainment, to transport male and female sex workers across state lines to engage in recorded sexual activity Participate in performances called “Freak Offs”.

He faces a sentence of up to life in prison and a minimum of 15 years if convicted of the three charges: conspiracy to commit racketeering, sex trafficking and promotion of prostitution.

In his third court appearance since then his arrest in SeptemberCombs was told his trial would begin May 5.

Prosecutor Emily Johnson told the court that the prosecution's case would last at least three weeks.

Combs' defense will take about a week, said his attorney, Marc Agnifilo.

The hip mogul has been incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since his arrest.

He appeared in court Thursday wearing a tan prison uniform before being led out a side door by members of the U.S. Marshals Service.

The Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday rejected his request for immediate release from prison while he appealed another judge's decision denying him bail.

A three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit will hear that appeal at a later date.

In connection with the charges against him, prosecutors accused Combs of seducing women by giving them drugs such as ketamine and ecstasy, financial support or promises of career support or a romantic relationship.

Combs then allegedly used the secret recordings of the sex acts as “collateral” to ensure the women would remain silent and sometimes displayed weapons to intimidate abuse victims and witnesses, prosecutors said.

The indictment does not allege that Combs himself directly had unwanted sexual contact with women, although he was accused of physically assaulting them.

Mr. Agnifilo described the sexual activities described by prosecutors as consensual.

In a court filing Wednesday evening, Mr. Agnifilo asked the judge to issue a “gag order” barring prosecutors and federal agents from releasing evidence to the media.

Mr. Agnifilo cited what he described as unlawful leaks, including: a video showing Combs hitting and dragging a woman in 2016.

At the hearing, Ms. Johnson called the motion an attempt to “exclude a damning piece of evidence.”

She said prosecutors had no problem reaffirming their commitment to keeping confidential evidence to the press, but said the defense should also be bound by it.

Ms. Johnson also raised concerns about Mr. Agnifilo's testimony in an interview with entertainment news channel TMZ in September, in which she called the case a “defeat against a successful black man.”

She said the comment amounted to an accusation that the government was “carrying out racist law enforcement.”

“Statements of this nature seriously jeopardize a fair trial in this case,” Ms. Johnson said.