Sean “Diddy” Combs has officially been placed on a federal indictment by authorities after months of back-to-back lawsuits and public allegations. As The Shade Room previously reported, the 54-year-old went viral and made headlines in November 2023. At the time, his ex-girlfriend, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, filed a bombshell lawsuit against him. The suit accused him of sexual abuse, assault, and trafficking.
Cassie and the 54-year-old privately settled the suit. However, a plethora of individuals have come forward, accusing the mogul of similar actions, which he’s denied.
Despite this, the 54-year-old’s residences were raided by federal police in March. In May, footage from March 2016 surfaced showing him apparently assaulting Cassie in a hotel hallway. Additionally, later that month, reports asserted that a grand jury had been composed to hear the testimonies of Diddy’s accusers.
Then, on Monday, September 16, Diddy was arrested at a hotel in New York and taken into federal custody, per The Shade Room. On Tuesday, September 17, the official indictment against Diddy was released. Around the same time, footage surfaced of the 54-year-old moments before his arrest.
The music mogul has been charged with three felony counts of:
“racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution.”
Now, The Shade Room is breaking down the 14-page indictment against Sean Combs.
Diddy’s Federal Indictment: More Details On His Felony Charge Of Racketeering
A copy of the federal indictment lists “Sean Combs” as a defendant. The document also lists Comb’s various aliases: Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Diddy, PD, and Love. The 54-year-old first count of “racketeering” is followed by 15 clauses that assert his alleged actions and the actions of his business enterprises.
“For decades… the defendant, abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct,” the document reads. “To do so, COMBS relied on the employees, resources, and influence of the multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled — creating a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.”
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The indictment asserts that Combs’ businesses operated under the names: Bad Boy Entertainment, Combs Enterprises, and Combs Global. The companies reportedly operated in the industries of music, apparel, spirits and alcohol, marketing, and television and media.
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Furthermore, Combs allegedly utilized himself, his companies, and employees to engage “in a persistent and pervasive pattern” of verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse “toward women and other individuals.”
Combs allegedly “manipulated” the woman to participate in “highly orchestrated performances of sexual activity with male commercial sex workers.”
Combs reportedly utilized others “acting at his direction” to make arrangements for women to be transported to his location. He allegedly gave them narcotics and controlled “their careers, leveraging his financial support, and threatening to cut off the same, and using intimidation and violence.”
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Beginning in “at least” 2009 and continuing years after, Diddy allegedly “assaulted women by,
among other things, striking, punching, dragging, throwing objects at, and kicking them.”
Diddy’s abuse allegedly impacted his employees, whom he used to “carry out, facilitate, and cover up his abuse and commercial sex.”
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Here's What The Indictment Details About Alleged Abuse, "Freak Offs" & More
The indictment alleges Diddy and his employees engaged in or attempted to engage in: “sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, coercion, and enticement to engage in prostitution, narcotics offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.”
Diddy’s allegedly demonstrated loyalty to the music mogul and utilized “intimidation, manipulation, bribery, and threats of retaliation” to protect his alleged criminal behavior.
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Details About Diddy's Alleged "Freak Offs"
Furthermore, the indictment notes that Combs and his employees “intimidate[d] threaten[ed]
and lure[d] female victims into COMBS’ orbit, often under the pretense of a romantic relationship.”
Once the women were in Diddy’s “orbit,” he and his team allegedly “used force, threats of force, and coercion, to cause victims to engage in extended
sex acts with male commercial sex workers… referred to as, among other things, ‘Freak
Offs.'”
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The freak offs were “elaborate” and reportedly orchestrated and “electronically recorded” by Diddy. For the events, Diddy allegedly transported individuals and works across state and international lines.
“During Freak Offs, COMBS distributed a variety of controlled substances to victims, in part to keep the victims obedient and compliant. Sometimes unbeknownst to the victims, COMBS kept videos he filmed of victims engaging in sex acts with commercial sex workers,” the document states. “After Freak Offs, COMBS and the victims typically received IV fluids to recover from the physical exertion and drug use.”
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The Indictment Reports Over 1000 Bottles Of Baby Oil & Lube Were Confiscated From Diddy's Homes
According to the indictment, various supplies were used for the events, and in March, authorities reportedly confiscated “narcotics and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant” from Diddy’s residences.
Ultimately, Diddy allegedly used the recordings, physical force financial and career promises, and monitoring of individuals to maintain their obedience and silence. Furthermore, the indictment notes that “firearms and ammunition, including three AR-
15s with defaced serial numbers” and a “drum magazine” were confiscated from Diddy’s residences.
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More Details On His Felony Charge Of Sex Trafficking
According to the indictment, Diddy allegedly participated in sex trafficking, beginning on or around 2009.
“…the defendant, in and affecting interstate and foreign commerce, knowingly recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, advertised, maintained, patronized, and solicited by any means a person, knowing and in reckless disregard of the fact that means of force, threats of force, fraud, and coercion,” the indictment reads. “…to cause the
person to engage in a commercial sex act… in reckless disregard of the fact that Victim-1 was engaging in
commercial sex acts as a result of force, fraud, and coercion.”
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Details On His Charge Of Transportation To Engage In Prostitution
Finally, Diddy’s third count asserts that between 2009 and 2004, he allegedly “transported an individual in
interstate and foreign commerce with intent that the individual engage in prostitution.”
Furthermore, the indictment reiterates Diddy’s alleged interstate and international trafficking of “female victims” and “commercial sex workers.”
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Final Notes From The U.S. Attorney's Office
According to NBC News, the federal government may seize “significant financial assets” from Diddy. This reportedly includes “any and all property, real and personal” and an undisclosed “sum of money.”
Lastly, U.S. District Attorney Damian Williams noted during a press conference on Tuesday, September 17, that the investigation into the mogul remains “ongoing.”
Furthermore, per his office, Diddy’s charge of racketeering carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. His sex trafficking charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and “a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.” Meanwhile, his charge of transportation for purposes of prostitution reportedly carries a “maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.”
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Ultimately, the attorney encouraged anyone with additional information to come forward immediately by calling the Homeland Security tip line at 1-877-4-HSITIP. Or emailing Sextrafficking_outreach@hsi.dhs.gov.