Heather Khalifa/AP, left; Willy Sanjuan/AP, right.
In a third bid for bail, lawyers for Sean "Diddy" Combs argue that ex-Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries has remained free pending his own federal sex-trafficking case — and so the rap mogul should be released pending trial, too.
Jeffries was quickly granted $10 million bail, without prosecution opposition, after his arrest four weeks ago on charges similar to those faced by Combs. Federal prosecutors allege that for decades, both men used their wealth and the power of their brands to coerce victims into participating in drug-fueled sex parties.
Comparisons of Jeffries and Combs are promising to be a prominent part of bail arguments scheduled for Friday in Manhattan.
During Combs' last court date, Tuesday, US District Judge Arun Subramanian told prosecutors he is eager to hear their views on why the federal government agreed to bail in one case and not the other.
Assistant US Attorney Christy Slavik said she would be prepared to detail how the cases are highly different.
In a 20-page memorandum filed to the judge on Thursday, Combs' legal team said prosecutors have failed to explain their disparate treatment of the two former fashion executives.
Combs and Jeffries have similar indictments and are similarly accused of witness intimidation, yet prosecutors avoid any mention of Jeffries in opposing Combs' release, the rap mogul's lawyers wrote.
Instead, they offer "no response to many of the cases cited in Mr. Combs' motion — including two other sex trafficking cases in which bail was granted," lead attorney Marc Agnifilo wrote in the memo. The other case involves an upstate New York man who remained free pending a January plea to federal sex-trafficking charges.
Prosecutors are fighting Combs' bail offer, which includes a $50 million bond collateralized by his Miami mansion, plus home confinement with round-the-clock monitoring.
Last month, a different set of federal prosecutors approved Jeffries' conditions of release, which "pale in comparison to the conditions proposed by Mr. Combs," his lawyers had argued last week.
Prosecutors agreed to Jeffries' release even after alleging that he and his codefendants used a security company to surveil and intimidate witnesses, "thereby securing their silence," Combs' lawyers argue.
Allegations of witness intimidation have impeded Combs' bail efforts since mid-September, when he was arrested in a five-star Midtown Manhattan hotel, the Park Hyatt New York, where he had been staying in anticipation of turning himself in.
The tampering allegations have intensified in the past week, with prosecutors alleging that Combs has been reaching out to witnesses through intermediaries.
Last week, prosecutors alleged Combs' handwritten notes, photographed by federal prison officials during a late October raid, show he is using third parties to pay witnesses and to "find dirt" on victims. A grand jury is hearing evidence on those allegations, Slavik said. Combs' handwritten notes are at the center of a separate, ongoing battle between the defense and prosecutors.
Defense lawyers say they will also argue at Friday's bail hearing that prosecutors are cherry-picking and exaggerating evidence to create a false case for witness tampering.
"The government's theatric spin on the evidence omits key context and creates a misleading picture," Agnifilo wrote Thursday.
Prosecutors remain "unable to point to any communications involving actual tampering efforts," he wrote.
Combs is being held in a federal detention facility in Brooklyn as he awaits a May 5 trial date.
He is charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted, he faces a sentence of at least 15 years and as much as life in prison.
Prosecutors say that beginning in 2009 and continuing to the present day, Combs engaged in pattern of physical and sexual violence against multiple victims, including at elaborate, drug-fueled sex parties called "freak offs."
Combs has countered that the sexual behavior detailed in the indictment was consensual and that his accusers have financial motives to implicate him.
Combs' two previous bids for bail were rejected by US District Court judges in September and October, after prosecutors argued that the rap entrepreneur used cash and coercion to foster a culture of fear and obedience in his inner circle.
Weapons, drugs, and supplies for future "freak offs" were recovered from Combs' homes in Miami and Los Angeles, prosecutors said.
"As two judges have already concluded based on the evidence in the record, the defendant poses serious risks of danger and obstruction to these proceedings," prosecutors wrote last week in opposing this latest bail bid.
Even in jail, Combs has "orchestrated social media campaigns that are, in his own words, aimed at tainting the jury pool," prosecutors wrote.
Combs has also "made efforts to publicly leak materials he views as helpful to his case; and contacted witnesses through third parties," they wrote.
A spokesperson for the US Attorney's Office and an attorney for Jeffries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Agnifilo declined to comment on this story, saying that he is only speaking about the case in the courtroom and in legal filings.
