The Sean "Diddy" Combs news keeps getting grimmer. The disgraced musician was just ordered to pay $100 million to a Michigan inmate named Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith, in a default sexual assault judgment reached after Combs failed to appear for a virtual hearing on Monday.
The news comes from Detroit Metro Times and court documents reviewed by Variety. According to the records, the decision was reached by a judge in the Lenawee County Circuit Court, after Cardello-Smith, 51, was awarded a temporary restraining order against Combs in August. Cardello-Smith, who is currently serving an unrelated sentence, claims that Combs drugged and sexually assaulted him at a Detroit party in 1997.
According to court records, Combs allegedly met Cardello-Smith while the latter was working at a restaurant in Detroit. The two later attended the party in question, where they met a group of women and had sex with them. While this was happening, Cardello-Smith allegedly felt Combs touching him. Later, he claims that Combs offered him a spiked drink, which caused him to pass out. When he woke up, he says he saw Combs having sex with a woman and alleges that the musician told him, "I did this to you too."
Cardello-Smith also claims that Combs offered him $2.3 million to dismiss the suit in August, which he refused. He was apparently able to produce prison facility information that shows Combs' name logged in his visitation record. The judge has now set a $10 million per month payment plan for Combs beginning October 1. Detroit Metro Times speculates that this "could be the largest awarded to a non-attorney and a currently incarcerated inmate in history."
In a statement to Detroit Metro Times, Combs’s attorney, Marc Agnifilo, denied the allegations. The statement reads: "This man is a convicted felon and sexual predator, who has been sentenced on 14 counts of sexual assault and kidnapping over the last 26 years. His resume now includes committing a fraud on the court from prison, as Mr. Combs has never heard of him let alone been served with any lawsuit. Mr. Combs looks forward to having this judgment swiftly dismissed."
If you or someone you know is suffering from sexual abuse, contact the RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
