The lawyers of Sean “Didy” combs tried to file one of the charges against him in the dismissed federal racket case because they said it was racist and had been disproportionately targeted at Black people.
Combs is awaiting trial, tentatively scheduled to begin in May, from extortion, trafficking and violation of the Mann Act, which prohibits the transport of someone across state lines for prostitution.
On Tuesday night, his legal team filed a motion that was prosecuted as a racist under the Mann Act – something prosecutors denied at a previous hearing. “Sir. Comms was picked out because he was a powerful black man and was prosecuted for his frequent punishment,” his attorney said in the motion.
The Mann Act was once known as the White Slave Transport Act and was incorporated into the law in 1910 to prohibit women from transporting for prostitution or other “immoral” purposes.
However, Coms' attorneys argued to the court that the historical purpose of the law was to “target black people and allegedly protect white women”, pointing to the prosecutions of Jack Johnson and Chuck Berry as examples. Johnson was pardoned after his death in 2018.
“High-profile whites, including former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, have also engaged in similar behaviors, but have never been prosecuted by the bill,” the motion said.
Combs is accused of hiring escorts and crossing state sexual conduct in an undisclosed federal indictment last year.
According to the motion, the unnamed escort service of the motion is not “some secret underground operation previously unknown. It has been operating in the Open for more than a decade. It has a website on X and over 10,000 followers [formerly Twitter]. As stated in the company's own news page, its business has been published in Playgirl, Glamor, Sheen, Hustler, Cosmopolitan and Esquire. ”
Combs was held in the federal correctional facility in Brooklyn, NY, where he was innocent of him and he was innocent of any misconduct.
In a recent replacement indictment filed in Manhattan, federal prosecutors increased the number of alleged victims of sex trafficking by one to three, but no confirmation. The allegations of “Victim 1” reflect the lawsuit filed by the singer and Coms' ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura in 2023. The expanded indictment also extended the duration of the so-called conspiracy, saying it began in 2004, rather than 2008, and continued until 2024.
The indictment alleges that the founder of the Bad Boys Entertainment used his empire to trap victims in sexual acts at a party known as the “Freak.”
It accused the comb of “using force, threats and coercion of force, causing victims, including but not limited to three female victims”, engaged in commercial sexual acts.
After nearly a year of federal investigation, COMBS was arrested in September.
Prosecutors alleged that as part of a sex trafficking program, combs and their entourage engaged in violence, abuse, arson and kidnapping and wielding guns during one abduction.
Combs' attorneys have failed to try to rule out evidence they said was leaked, including a 2016 video showing combs and Ventura on the corridors of the InterContinental Los Angeles.
The video, acquired and released by CNN last year, shows Combs rushing Ventura into the hallway, kicking her, hitting her and throwing a vase at her, dragging her back to the door of the room, and throwing her vase at her. The video soon spread, at least confirming some of the physical abuse allegations against the singer detailed in the 2023 lawsuit.
Since the first prosecution, more and more people have sued Comb for sexual abuse, some of whom were minors at the time of alleged behavior. No federal charges involve minors.
