Sean “Diddy” Combs, the hip-hop mogul and entrepreneur, appeared in Manhattan federal court on Thursday, where a judge set May 5, 2025, as the trial date for his highly publicized racketeering and sex trafficking case. Combs, 54, is facing serious accusations, including leading a criminal enterprise that sexually exploited women, as well as committing other violent crimes. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The charges against Combs stem from an investigation that started in 2023, culminating in his arrest and indictment in September. The indictment includes charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, and the transportation of women to engage in prostitution. If convicted, Combs could face life in prison.
During Thursday’s hearing, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, who recently replaced Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr., scheduled the trial to begin in early May 2025. The date, however, could shift depending on whether additional charges are brought against Combs, as prosecutors indicated that there is still a significant amount of evidence being decrypted and examined.
The prosecution, led by Emily Johnson, informed the court that over 100 electronic devices had been seized from Combs’s residences in Miami and Los Angeles. Other devices were obtained from a hotel room he stayed at in New York and at the airport. Prosecutors have until the end of 2024 to turn over this evidence to Combs’s legal team as part of the discovery process. This vast array of digital evidence may play a crucial role in the trial.
Combs’s defense team, led by attorney Marc Agnifilo, filed a motion accusing agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of leaking information to the media, including a 2016 video of Combs allegedly assaulting his former partner, Cassie Ventura, in a Los Angeles hotel. The video was released earlier in 2024, drawing widespread media attention. Although the case was settled out of court, the footage has been used to tarnish Combs’s reputation, according to his defense.
Combs’s attorneys argued that the leak was an attempt to undermine his right to a fair trial by influencing public opinion and the potential jury pool. They are calling for a hearing to investigate these alleged leaks and for the video evidence to be suppressed from the trial, claiming it was not legally obtained by DHS.
In response, the prosecution denied these accusations, clarifying that the video was not part of the grand jury process and that DHS did not possess the footage before CNN aired it.
Since his arrest, Combs has remained in federal custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, after being denied bail. His defense team has filed multiple appeals to secure his release before trial, though they have been unsuccessful thus far. While Judge Subramanian indicated he would be open to hearing another request for bail, Combs’s lawyer suggested that the music mogul has been accommodated adequately at the detention facility.
The trial, expected to last about a month, will feature three weeks of prosecution witnesses followed by one week for the defense. However, this timeline could shift depending on how the case progresses, including any additional charges or new evidence presented by the prosecution.
As the case moves closer to trial, Sean “Diddy” Combs continues to maintain his innocence, while facing an increasingly complex legal battle that could significantly impact his future.
