Sean “Diddy” Combs was the only defendant indicted this week in a sweeping sex trafficking and racketeering investigation.But federal prosecutors made clear that they do not believe he was the only one responsible.
The 14-page indictment against Combs accuses the founder of Bad Boy Entertainment of luring female victims and using violence, coercion and drugs to get women to take part in “freak offs” — elaborate sex performances that often were recorded and sometimes lasted days.
The case alleges an extensive network, a complicated scheme that would have required multiple people to not just know but be involved to recruit victims, organize the freak offs, clean up and cover the tracks so law enforcement would not get involved.
“Combs did not do this all on his own,” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in announcing the charges. “He used his business and employees of that business and other close associates to get his way.”
Williams would not comment on whether more indictments were coming but said the investigation was “active and ongoing.”
“I can’t take anything off the table,” he said. “Anything is possible.”
Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges, including the federal racketeering count — a charge most often seen against organized crime figures. John Gotti, James “Whitey” Bulger and associates of the Mexican Mafia and South L.A.’s Crips have faced the charge in the past.
Authorities said Combs’ power and money allowed him to evade exposure for years. But some legal experts said the indictment might change that.
Matt Murphy, a former prosecutor who handled sex crimes for four years in Orange County, said the wall of secrecy may be coming down.
The racketeering charge means anyone involved in the enterprise could face criminal charges, Murphy said, explaining, “there are people who have witnessed things who are going to have their own criminal interests to worry about now.”
That can put pressure on associates to testify against Combs, he said.
“We don’t know yet, but I’m sure there’s insiders in his organization that face criminal liability, that are going to become federal witnesses,” Murphy said.
According to court records, prosecutors allege they have obtained information from “dozens of victims and witnesses” — as well as communications with sex workers and travel records and recordings, including “dozens of video recordings created by [Combs] of Freak Offs with victims.”
“This indictment only mentions Combs, even though it describes many other participants,” said Laurie Levenson, a professor of criminal law at Loyola Law School and a former federal prosecutor. “Then you ask the question, ‘Are all those participants getting a deal [from prosecutors], or will some of them be joining the defendant?'”
Federal prosecutors say Combs used his billion-dollar music and business empire to carry out the alleged crimes. According to the indictment, security, household staff, personal assistants and other associates took part — and helped hide the criminal activity by using violence, intimidation, manipulation, bribery and threats.
