a year ago Shan com 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 one of the most famous names in the hipop world is now facing three charges in federal court many people have come forward in recent months to accuse Shawn Diddy hmes of abuse sex trafficking drug possession and more but now the federal government is getting involved and promising to bring down the mogul's alleged criminal Empire welcome to sidebar presented by law on crime I'm Jesse
Weber this office is determined to investigate and prosecute anyone who engages in sex trafficking no matter how powerful or wealthy or famous you may be no one should doubt our commitment on that talk about a day in the legal and crime world and today it all centers around Shawn Diddy combes and all of these details and filings in his new criminal case and we're going to break it down for you right now give you everything you need to know so the southern district of New York is promising Justice for multiple victims who say that rapper
producer businessman Colmes used his power influence and wealth to intimidate them into doing his bidding whether that was obtaining drugs or performing sexually or cleaning up after apparent sex acts now we've of course been reporting on combs for months here on sidebar in November of last year Cassandra Ventura Cassie comes' ex filed a huge lawsuit against him claiming that he abused her physically sexually emotionally for years before she was finally able to get away now Colmes denied everything she had to say in her filing settled the lawsuit with her just one day after it was
filed but we know that set off a chain reaction multiple other lawsuits against him and even against his son were filed alleging sexual abuse sex trafficking illegal narcotics possession violence then in March of this year Homeland Security agents they show up at col's homes in both Miami and Los Angeles search warrants in hand they raided both locations seemingly collecting a huge amount of evidence which we will get through in a moment and we learned at the time that this was connected to a sex trafficking investigation out of the southern district of New York but we
didn't know all the exact details well you fast forward to this week and Colmes was officially arrested Monday night at the park Hyatt Hotel in New York out in Manhattan according to his defense team he had been booked there since September 5th that was nearly two weeks ago and he was in town in anticipation of the charges being filed which is important because now that Colmes has been arrested in charge he says this is an example to show he's not a Flight Risk he's been Cooperative however when us attorney Damen Williams again from the southern
district of New York held a press conference and was asked about com's cooperation in this case he seems skeptical let me just say this I think that um generally uh and with increasing frequency the the word Cooperative or cooperating has taken on tremendous elasticity and no longer really Bears any relation to what um uh the word means when we use it um in a very specific context so um uh responding to lawful process um and the like um does not qualify as cooperation when we use term here by the way as we sort through all
these legal filings suround sha Colmes and there's a lot to get into can I just take a quick second to tell you guys about something positive yeah something that I think you're actually going to really love would you want cash back when you buy gas and groceries because if you do that's where our amazing partner and sponsor of sidebar comes in upside so this is a free app that honestly so easy to use upside gets you real cash back real cash back that appears in your upside app that you can transfer straight into your bank
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an extra 25 cents back on every gallon on on your first tank of gas hope you can check it out now there are still questions about future filings possible charges against co-conspirators whether comes will be hit with additional charges what we do know is we are now getting a look at what the prosecution believes they can prove and that brings me to this major indictment against sha Colmes so prosecutors file documents in federal court that lay out the accusations against comes and his associates although to be clear comes is the only one named in this
filing for now he faces three charges racketeering conspiracy sex trafficking by force fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution now during a hearing on Tuesday Colmes entered a not guilty plea to every charge and if he is convicted of all charges Colmes faces a minimum of 15 years in prison with the possibility that the 54-year-old could spend the rest of his life behind bars that's what we're talking about here so we're going to break down each of these counts for you as well as more on why com says he should be allowed out
on bail while he waits trial and let's start with the indictment it's 14 pages jam-pack with information I want to hit the highlights so first right out of the gate the government lays out some pretty damning accusations quote for decades sha Combs AKA Puff Daddy AKA P Diddy Diddy akpd love they throughout the course of this indictment referred to him by as many monikers the defendant abused threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires protect his reputation and conceal his conduct to do so Colmes relied on the employees resources and
influence of the multifaceted 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 Force labor kidnapping arson bribery and obstruction of justice which brings me now to count one racketeering conspiracy so the main idea here is that there is a criminal agreement an agreement to engage in racketeering and racketeering is when there is a criminal Enterprise it's like organized crime a grouping of people who break the law they commit crimes now it doesn't need to be sha Colmes breaks
the Law LLC you know need an official company just an organized group of people organized crime and a criminal Enterprise is supposed to have a common goal so whether it was to benefit financially whether it was to satisfy sha com's sexual desires was it whether it was to protect him there has to be a common goal in mind we saw this we're seeing this actually I should say in the Young Thug trial out of Georgia big thing for the prosecution is they have listed a number of different crimes they're trying to say this wasn't done
in an individual capacity but it was done to further that gang similar idea here okay now also as you're going to see here in a racketeering case there are numerous predicate crimes these are underlying crimes that comes is not specifically charged with like arson or kidnapping or forced labor but they are crimes Under the Umbrella of the larger criminal Enterprise by the way I should tell you the racketeering allegations that we see in this indictment are very consistent with the allegations put forward by Rodney little Jones com's former producer who was one of the people
that filed a sexual assault lawsuit against him and said there were violations of racketeering law in fact although no one is specifically named in this indictment you can kind of see who those alleged victims of combs are their allegations that they were the basis for the charges here especially Cassandra Ventura because we all know that when that video back in 2016 was released uh by CNN a few months ago of sha Colmes purportedly beating Cassandra Ventura in a hotel elevator bank that was publicized for the whole world to see and he apologized for an Instagram
that is mentioned specifically in this indictment now reading from the indictment it says quote the defendant and others known and unknown participated in unlawful and other activities related to the conduct of the com's Enterprises Affairs these individuals included certain com's business business employees such as members of com security staff household staff personal assistants and high ranking supervisors as well as other Close Associates of combs now one of the most startling examples of com's alleged control over those around him came from the description of a parent sex parties called freak offs this is something that Ventura
and others alleged in their lawsuits what are they well the indictment says coms and other members and Associates of the coms Enterprise wielded the power and Prestige of com's role Ro at the com's business to intimidate threaten and lure female victims into com's orbit often under the pretense of a romantic relationship comes then used Force threats of force and coercion to cause victims to engage in extended sex acts with male commercial sex workers that combms referred to as among other things freak offs freak offs were elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged directed I'm
not going to say the next part basically pleasured himself during and often electronically recorded in arranging these freak offs Combs with the assistance of members and Associates of the Combs Enterprise transported and caused to be transported commercial sex workers across state lines and internationally freak offs occurred regularly sometimes lasted multiple days and often involved multiple commercial sex workers so this is also kind of a flavor of the sex trafficking charge which we'll get to a little bit later during freak off combms distributed a variety of Controlled Substances to victims in part to keep the victims
obedient and compliant sometimes unbeknownst to the victims combms kept videos he filmed of victims engaging in sex acts with commercial sex workers after freak offs combms and the victims typically received IV fluids to recover from the physical exertion and drug use the indictment then provides more details about what Colmes expected his employees to do before during and after sessions now comes did not do this all on his own as I mentioned comes has been charged with Rico conspiracy he use his business and employees of that business and other Close Associates to get his way those
individuals allegedly included high ranking supervisors in the business personal assistance security staff and household staff the indictment alleges that those individuals facilitated the freak offs they booked the hotel rooms and stock them with the supplies including drugs baby oil personal lubricant extra Linens and lighting when the hotel rooms got damaged they helped clean it up they arranged for victims and Commercial sex workers to travel for the freak offs and they delivered large quantities of cash to Combs to pay for the commercial sex workers according to the indictment in about March of 2024 during searches of
com's residences in Miami Florida and Los Angeles California law enforcement seized various freak off supplies including narcotics and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant wow you talk about physical evidence here to prove these claims now Federal prosecutors alleg that Colmes used the threat of violence as well as actual assaults to keep his alleged victims in line the indictment reads quote hmes maintained control over his victims through among other things physical violence Promises of career opportunities granting and threatening to withhold financial support and by other coercive means including tracking their whereabouts dictating the
victim's appearance monitoring their medical records controlling their housing and supplying them with Controlled Substances during and separate from Freak offs Combs among other things hit kicked through objects at and drag victims at times by their hair these assaults often resulted in injuries that took days or we to heal Combs also threatened victims careers and livelihoods including if they resisted participating in freak offs so a majority of that indictment covers that first count racketeering conspiracy now I want to talk quickly about the other two counts that he faces so count two is a charge of sex
trafficking of a victim by using force or coercion or fraud to have that person engage in commercial sex acts sex acts that are either for money or something of value is Promised or given and there were allegations that coms had made promises of opportunities and so forth to get what he wanted he's also charged with count three which is related to the transportation of people for purposes of prostitution now quick side note about this this is a comprehensive indictment but it doesn't have a lot of details about what evidence prosecutors have to prove all of
this it also doesn't include every allegation that has been asserted against combs in numerous civil complaints for instance there is nothing regarding miners you know there's been a lot of allegations that there were miners at these com's parties which we had heard before in these other allegations and these other uh complaints nothing about minors here now Damen Williams the US attorney for the southern district of New York said that it's possible more charges could be on the way he wouldn't confirm it one way or another said nothing's off the table so we don't know but
maybe there wasn't enough evidence to prove that there were minors at these parties or combms did anything criminal related to minors but I tell you what we did get a lot more information from another filing from the prosecution I'll get to that in a second first I have to get to the defense because in a letter filed with the court on Tuesday com's defense team laid out a proposed bail package for their client why he should be released pending trial and they explained why his actions over the last six months Point toward cooperation not avoidance
they also call out the government for seemingly making things more difficult than they had to be his team writes quote through Council Mr Colmes promptly told the government that he had voluntarily come to New York offered to tell them specifically where he was and offered to turn himself in at the appropriate time even though Mr comes came to New York authorized his lawyers to tell the government of his location and offer to self-surrender the government affected an arrest last evening this we know is the government's right however that he traveled to New York to selfs
surrender is also something the court should consenter so what is this bail package that the defense outlines well here are some of the main points one a $50 million bond co-signed by comes his mother his sister the mother of his eldest daughter and his three adult sons that 50 million would be secured by the equity in com's Miami home the appraise value of that home on Star Island is 48 million so in other words this is what he's saying you can secure this you can know that I'm not going to flee the country I'm not
going to break the the bail conditions I'm putting this home up the defense says that Colmes paid off the remaining mortgage $8 million so he could use it to secure a bond the equity in his mother's home in Miami could also be used as collateral and the letter goes on to say that com's travel would be restricted to the southern district of Florida and the southern district of New York Colmes apparently surrendered his passport to his attorneys right after the raids on his home and several of his family members including his children have surrendered their
passports too col's Council says he is currently working on selling his private planes so he wouldn't be able to just jet off to some exotic local that has no extradition with the United United States in the B package information it's also revealed that comes wants to be under house arrest and would agree to GPS monitoring the letter from comes attorneys also fires back at the assistant us attorneys working on the case saying they reached out to him in the days before the raids but never got any reply and then on March 25th agents swooped in
with a big show of force which the attorneys insist was unnecessary the filing also goes into com's philanthropic Works including his work with the Boys and Girls Club of America his donations to open a charter school in New York and his work fundraising to get PPE for Frontline workers during the covid-19 pandemic at the end of the document the defense team States Shawn Colmes has never evaded avoided eluded or run from a challenge in his life he will not start now as he has handled every hardship he will meet this case headon he will work
hard to defend himself and he will prevail now the prosecution had a different view so the prosecution team also sent a letter to the judge defending their assertion that com should be locked up with no Bale their letter States quote as reflected by the gravity of the charges in the indictment the defendant is dangerous and poses an ongoing threat to the safety of the community If released he remains a serious risk of flight despite the conditions offered by his Council most glaringly the defendant also poses a significant risk of obstructing justice the letter also goes
into more detail about some of those specific situations that combms was allegedly involved in that point to the length he would have reported the go to to get what he wanted for example quote the defendant ensured the victims would participate in freak offs through coercion and violence for instance the defendant provided Controlled Substances including ketamine ecstasy GHB to female victims so that they could and would continue to engage in freak offs despite fatigue physical and emotional exhaustion and pain additionally both during freak offs and separate from Freak offs the defendant subjected female victims to physical
emotional and verbal abuse in part to cause them to to engage in freak offs the defendant hit kick threw objects at and dragged female victims sometimes by their hair at least a dozen witnesses will confirm that they personally observe the defendant's violence towards women and or the injury sustained by women at the defendant's hand now back to that 2016 video that I mentioned of Colmes allegedly attacking Cassandra ventur out in La they say in this letter prosecution they claim that coms use money and influence to try to keep that video from getting out quote when
a member of hotel security staff intervened the defendant attempted to offer their hotel security officer a stack of cash to ensure his silence after the security guard refused the defendant's bribe and after coordination between the defendant and his employees the defendant staff contacted other members of hotel security within days of the incident the surveillance video disappeared from the hotel's server now this is the exact allegations put forward by Cassandra ventur which makes you wonder is she one of the cooperating Witnesses with the government you have to believe so and clearly there is something to be
said that the prosecutors here are believing the account of Ventura and possibly these other alleged victims it's not just them filing a lawsuit against Shan combes they are believing these allegations to substantiate criminal charges that's big now the letter also references another alleged incident that was first revealed in Ventura's lawsuit last fall when she alleged that comes set fire to fellow recording artist kid C's Car when he seemed to show interest in Ventura according to the filing quote in the early morning hours of December 22nd 2011 the defendant and a co-conspirator kidnapped an individual at
gunpoint to facilitate breaking into an entering the residence of individual one multiple Witnesses would testify a trial to the events surrounding the kidnapping and Breakin the latter of which is corroborated by police reports and other records approximately 2 weeks later the defendant's co-conspirator set fire to individual one's vehicle by slicing open the car's convertible top and dropping a Molotov cocktail inside the interior police and fire department reports extensively document the arson and conclude that the fire was intentionally set multiple Witnesses would also testify to the defendant bragging about his role in destroying individual ones car
so again prosecutors really taking Cassandra Ventura's allegations as true and again while he's not specifically charged with arson that is a part of the racketeering charart goes on the prosecution they uh raised concerns about com's access to weapons as well especially Firearms the letter includes photographs of weapons found in com's homes again this is all a reason why they believe he should be denied bail in March of 2024 during searches of the defendants residences in Miami Florida and Los Angeles California law enforcement seized firearms and ammunition including three AR-15s each with defaced serial numbers as
well as a large capacity drum magazine as pictured in a close-up image the serial number of of the AR-15s is visibly bored through and obscured by the way that in and of itself is a federal crime we did an episode about the recent uh potential shooting of uh former president Donald Trump that individual is charged with that crime the filing goes on to State quote two of the three defaced AR-15s were found in the defendants Miami bedroom closet stored broken down in Parts along with magazines that were loaded with ammunition in addition six legally purchased
guns with serial numbers some of which were stored in gun safes were recovered from the defendants residences now from there in this bail letter Colmes is also accused of trying to influence Witnesses prosecutor State quotes specifically following the November 2023 lawsuit the defendant and intermediaries acting on his behalf reached out to potential victims and witnesses to the alleged conduct including individuals he did not speak to regularly and not spoken to in years to attempt to feed those victims and Witnesses false narratives about the defendant's criminal conduct for example on or about November 19th 2023 just
three days after the filing of the lawsuit described above this is the Cassandra ventur one the defendant made multiple calls to another victim of his sexual abuse and recorded certain of those calls under the cell phone using the cell phone of a co-conspirator during the calls the defendant repeatedly asked for the victim's support and friendship and attempted to convince the victim that she had willingly engaged in Acts constituting sexual abuse the defendant also assured the victim that if she needed the defendant to she ain't got to worry about nothing else quote even more concerning since
learning about the criminal investigation including following the execution of the search warrants at his residences Colmes contacted other Witnesses on multiple occasions including other Witnesses who had received grand jury subpoenas basically accusing him of obstruction and by the way the prosecution also points out that many of the crimes that Colmes is accused of happened in his home so putting him on house arrest they would say doesn't do much to mitigate potential wrongdoing inside his residence now they talk about the weight of the evidence how much they have remember I said there wasn't a lot in
the indictment well here they talk about the weight of the evidence as a factor to consider in whether to deny baale quote as to witnesses to date the government has conducted interviews with over 50 victims and Witnesses many of whom saw or experienced the defendants abuse many of these Witnesses corroborate one another and their accounts are consistent with the other types of evidence discussed below the government only expects that number to continue to grow given that the investigation which is now public is ongoing and also the prosecution revealed in its filing that the government has
seized more than 90 cell phones laptops cloud storage accounts hard drives thumb drives cameras of surveillance system that they say shows this criminal activity So based on that we can assume that the evidence the southern district of New York has against coms is likely vast quote the evidence also consists of physical evidence which was seized pursuant to search warrants executed at the defendants residences in Los Angeles and Miami as well as on his person and the persons of certain co-conspirators in addition to the firearms and electronics discussed above the physical evidence also includes other evidence
of freak offs including over 1,000 bottles of baby oil and personal lubricant pretty disgusting now the prosecution ends their letter to the judge by saying quote there are no conditions of bail that would assure the appearance and compliance of the defendant or the saf of others accordingly any application for bail should be denied a year ago Shan com stood in Time 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 second we are not done this investigation is ongoing and I
encourage anyone with information about this case to come forward and to do it quickly anyone with information can call 18774 HSI tip I want to express my deep appreciation for the victims and Witnesses who have used their voices and helped bring this criminal conduct to light we would not be here without them so what happened well there was a hearing in front of the honorable Robin F tarnavski A Magistrate Judge from the southern district of New York and Arguments for and against baale were put forward by the prosecution and the defense and remember there is
actually a presumption of detainment in this case and the judge reportedly said that after listening to all the evidence that the presumption has not been rebutted meaning that Shawn comes is denied bail he must remain Behind Bars she reportedly said there was a significant amount of violence and weapons there was the allegation of coercion of witnesses and even though she seemed to thank his family for coming she cannot release him at this time now we will of course keep you updated on any and all developments in this case of Shawn Diddy comes as it inches
now even closer to a criminal trial all right everybody that's all we have for you right now here on sidebar thank you so much for joining us and as always please subscribe on Apple podcast Spotify YouTube wherever you get your podcast I'm Jesse Weber I'll speak to you next time [Music]
