U.S. district judge Arun Subramanian denied Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s third attempt at bail Wednesday.
The disgraced music mogul will remain in custody until his trial starts on May 5.
“The court finds that the government has shown by clear and convincing evidence that no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the safety of the community,” Subramanian said, according to The Guardian. Combs’s legal team had suggested a $50 million bail package and said they would keep him under surveillance to ensure he did not attempt to flee or intimidate possible witnesses.
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – SEPTEMBER 12: Diddy performs onstage at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2023 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
Subramanian went on to say “there is compelling evidence of Combs’s propensity for violence.”
“Given the nature of the allegations in this case and the information provided by the government, the court doubts the sufficiency of any conditions that place trust in Combs and individuals in his employ – like a private security detail – to follow those conditions,” Subramanian said, according to The Guardian.
The judge alleged that there was a serious risk of him tampering with the case and direct evidence of Combs’s violence. He pointed to the now-infamous video of Diddy beating his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, as an example of why the rapper should not be released into the community while awaiting trial, according to USA Today.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 04: Diddy attends A Night With King Diddy At The Dean on October 04, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage) Getty Images
Prosecutors alleged that Diddy had violated rules about communication while locked up at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York, according to The Guardian. They claimed Diddy had paid off other inmates to employ their phone access to make calls to people that were not listed on the approved list of contacts and violated the terms of use of the ContactMeAsap app.
Authorities claimed Diddy abused jail communications to manipulate witnesses and pressure peers to post online on his behalf. Prosecutors alleged that the rapper recruited his family to create a social media campaign around the time of his birthday and encouraged his children to post supportive social media messages. He allegedly then reviewed the analytics and “explicitly discussed with his family how to ensure that the video had his desired effect on potential jury members in this case,” according to The Guardian. (RELATED: Allegations Of Blood-Stained Sheets And Debauchery Emerge After Release Of Video Footage Reportedly From Diddy Party)
Diddy remains in custody on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
