Trial date set for Sean 'Diddy' Combs in sex trafficking and racketeering case

Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs will go on trial facing sex trafficking and racketeering charges in May next year.

The 54-year-old rapper, also known as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, blew kisses to his mother and children in court after a US judge set the trial date at a Manhattan federal court hearing on Thursday.

Combs pleaded not guilty on 17 September to a three-count indictment charging him with using his business empire, including record label Bad Boy Entertainment, to transport male and female sex workers across state lines to take part in recorded sexual performances called “freak offs”.

He faces a sentence of up to life in prison and a minimum of 15 years if convicted of the three counts he faces: racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.

In his third court appearance since his arrest in September, Combs was told his trial will start on 5 May.

Prosecutor Emily Johnson told the court the prosecution’s case at the trial will last at least three weeks.

Combs’ defence will last around a week, his lawyer Marc Agnifilo said.

The hip-hip mogul has been jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since his arrest.

He appeared in court on Thursday in tan prison uniform before being led out a side door by members of the US Marshals Service.

The Manhattan-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday denied his request to be immediately released from jail while he appeals another judge’s decision to deny him bail.

A three-judge 2nd Circuit panel will hear that appeal at a later date.

In relation to the charges he faces, prosecutors have accused Combs of enticing women by giving them drugs such as ketamine and ecstasy, financial support or promises of career support or a romantic relationship.

Combs then allegedly used the surreptitious recordings of the sex acts as “collateral” to ensure that the women would remain silent, and sometimes displayed weapons to intimidate abuse victims and witnesses, prosecutors said.

The indictment contains no allegation that Combs himself directly engaged in unwanted sexual contact with women, though he was accused of physically assaulting them.

Mr Agnifilo has called the sexual activity described by prosecutors consensual.

In a court filing on Wednesday night, Mr Agnifilo asked the judge to impose a “gag order” prohibiting prosecutors and federal agents from disclosing evidence to the media.

Mr Agnifilo cited what he called unlawful leaks that included a video showing Combs striking and dragging a woman in 2016.

At the hearing, Ms Johnson called the request an attempt to “exclude a damning piece of evidence”.

She said prosecutors would have no problem affirming their obligations not to disclose confidential evidence to the press, but said the defence should be bound by that as well.

Ms Johnson also raised concerns about Mr Agnifilo’s statement in a September interview with entertainment news outlet TMZ calling the case a “takedown of a successful black man”.

She said the comment amounted to an accusation that the government was “engaging in a racist prosecution”.

“Statements of this sort seriously risk a fair trial in this case,” Ms Johnson said.