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Sean Combs.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs gets May 25 trial date for federal sex trafficking charges

The 90s rap producer is detained at a federal jail in Brooklyn, NY awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. A judge twice denied him bail in the case.

By JOSH RUSSELL, Contributing Writer

MANHATTAN (CN)—Entertainment mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs will head to trial on May 5, 2025, a federal judge decided Thursday afternoon in the criminal sex trafficking case.

Combs, previously known as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, was arrested in a Manhattan hotel last month, half a year after federal investigators searched his luxury homes in Los Angeles and Miami and faces criminal charges that he carried out a sprawling sex trafficking conspiracy involving abusive coercion, drug-fueled sexual exploitation and surreptitious video recording of group sex participants.

He has been detained at MDC federal jail in Brooklyn for over three weeks since a magistrate judge denied him bail at his initial presentment in the Southern District of New York on a three-count criminal indictment for racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Combs, 54, has pleaded not guilty.

His defense team at the Oct. 10 hearing included attorneys Marc Agnifilo, Teny Geragos, Anthony Ricco and Anna Estevao.

Wearing matching tan jail attire, Combs appeared cheerful and animated as he entered the 26th floor courtroom and closely hugged each lawyer, whispering in their ears.

The Bad Boy Records founder later remained mostly stone-faced during the status conference, occasionally nodding his head up and down — once as a federal prosecutor described Agnifilo's recent TMZ interview in which the attorney decried the case as a racially motivated "takedown of a successful Black man."

Combs’ lawyers claimed in a court filing late Wednesday that the Department of Homeland Security was responsible for leaking to the media of a hotel surveillance video of violently assaulting his former longtime girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, in a hallway of the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles in 2016.

His lawyers said the video aired by CNN in May along with other purported government leaks “have led to damaging, highly prejudicial pretrial publicity that can only taint the jury pool and deprive Mr. Combs of his right to a fair trial.”

Assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson refuted the claims of improper disclosures as “baseless” and said Combs’ motion for fact-finding hearing was just an effort “to try to exclude a damning piece of evidence disguised as a press statement.”

“Not a single one of those alleged leaks are from a member of the prosecution team,” Johnson said. She also reported that the “investigation is continuing” and prosecutors may bring a superseding indictment. They are in the process of extracting data from dozens of electronic devices seized from Combs’ homes, containing an “extraordinary” amount of data to turn over to his defense.

Investigators have had difficulty unlocking several seized devices, including laptops, phones and “some hard drives with encryption,” Johnson said.

US District Judge Arun Subramanian did not rule from the bench on Combs' motion for an evidentiary hearing regarding the purported leaks from Department of Homeland Security, and instead said he will consider briefings and determine whether a hearing is needed.

Subramanian, a Biden appointee, is presiding over the case after US District Judge Andrew Carter recused himself.

After the hourlong hearing concluded, Combs clasped his hands together over his heart and blew kisses to his many family members in attendance at the hearing, including his mother Janice Combs and several of his grown children.

He has another bail appeal pending before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Categories / Criminal, Entertainment, Media

YG brings truce to Compton gang factions with peace walk

Rapper YG.

COMPTON (MNS)—Sunday was an effectual day of peace here, as rap icon YG spearheaded a peace walk marking the end to a 10-year rivalry between the Treetop Pirus and Fruit Town Pirus gangs.

Held at Gonzales Park, the event signified healing and unity for a community rife with riveting mayhem for five-and-a-half decades.

YG, along with gang leaders, The Game, Wallie The Sensei, and hundreds of local residents, participated in a peaceful procession to foster solidarity, ending in a gathering between many who had for years been unrepentant adversaries.

The peace walk coincides with the release of YG’s highly anticipated album, “Just Re’d Up 3.” This event not only highlights YG’s ability to bridge divides, but also showcases his commitment to social justice and community empowerment.

YG's social leadership follows his 2020 Black rights march, which drew more 50,000 participants.

Gang members get 50 years for cop's murder

The defendants opted to plead guilty in 2023 rather than risk a mandatory

life sentence for a conviction of a violent crime in aid of racketeering.

By EDVARD PETTERSSON, Contributing Writer

LOS ANGELES (CN) — Three members of the South Los Angeles street gang Florencia 13 received sentences of as long as 50 years in federal prison for the killing of off-duty LA Police Officer Fernando Arroyos when he was house hunting with his fiancée in January 2022.

The three pleaded guilty July 2023, shortly before they were to go on trial, to conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, Act.

The killing of Arroyos — a native of South Central LA who had graduated from UC Berkeley and was considered one of the brightest prospects on the police force — caused an uproar in LA where concerns about rising crime had already prompted an ultimately unsuccessful effort to recall liberal leaning District Attorney George Gascón.

"The senseless loss of life is all too frequent in our community," US District Judge Percy Anderson said at the separate sentencing hearings Friday afternoon. "It is literally ripping apart the fabric of our society. The sentence imposed must send a message, not only to this defendant but to everyone, that if you choose to endanger our community by murdering, robbing and trafficking in narcotics, there will be significant consequences.”

Luis Alfredo de la Rosa Rios, 30, and Ernesto Cisneros, 25, were each sentenced to 50 years. They were the ones who robbed Arroyos at gunpoint before killing him. The third man, Jesse Contreras, 36, was sentenced to 35 years. He gave a loaded gun to Rios but stayed behind in the truck they were driving when the other got out to rob Arroyos and his girlfriend.

Earlier that same day, at 2 a.m., Rios and Contreras had already robbed two musicians outside a bar where they had been performing. They had been waiting outside the bar expecting that band members who had been performing there for hours would have a lot of cash on them, according to the prosecution in their sentencing memorandum. They took about $2,000 from the two victims at gunpoint.

Later that day, they picked up Cisneros and cruised around in Rios's truck looking for people to rob. They noticed Arroyos and his fiancée and decided to target him because he was wearing gold chains around his neck.

"With his elite education, Fernando could have pursued any number of professions that would have been more financially rewarding than a career in law enforcement," now-retired LAPD Chief Michel Moore said in a letter to the judge last year. "However, Fernando wanted to give back to his community and pursued his childhood dream of becoming a police officer."

The three men, as well as Rios's girlfriend, were arrested shortly after the Jan. 10, 2022 murder of Arroyos. They were initially charged with violent crime in aid of racketeering, which would have put them behind bars for life if they had been convicted.

In July 2023, prosecutors with the US attorney's office in Los Angeles offered them a plea deal, which all three of them had to accept or none would get it, to admit to racketeering conspiracy with the understanding that the government would seek sentences of 35 to 50 years.

Contreras and Cisneros tried to withdraw their guilty pleas, claiming that they hadn't understood what they were pleading guilty to, but the judge rejected their request in May, noting that during the change-of-plea hearings he had repeatedly asked them if they understood the terms of the agreement and whether they needed more time to confer with their attorneys.

Categories / CRIMINAL, REGIONAL

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LASD K-9 in recovery after being shot during Compton suspect search

METROPOLIS NEWS SERVICE

COMPTON—A bullet proof vest worn by a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department K-9 unit may have saved the canine deputy's life, as he continues to recover after being shot in Compton on Wednesday.

Deputies say that the K9 named Kjeld, a search

Kjeld being treated for injuries at an animal hos- pital after being shot in Compton. Screenshot

dog for the Special Enforcement Bureau, was shot by an assailant around 6:30 p.m., whom deputies were searching for following an assault with a deadly weapon—a handgun, in the 100 block of E. Spruce Street.

Deputies said the suspect emerged from hiding and shot the Kjeld, who was rushed to a local animal hospital after the shooting, where he was treated for his injury and was released.

"The heroic actions by K9-Kjeld were crucial in saving the lives of our deputies and even the suspect who shot him, demonstrating extra- ordinary bravery and dedication," the LASD said in a statement.

Deputies, who did not return fire in the incident, incident, said the suspect was arrested following the incident.