Sean Combs has asked a judge to allow him to wait for his sex trafficking trial, not in the Brooklyn jail where he is currently being held. Instead, he wants to be allowed to stay at his Florida mansion near Miami Beach.
Update 8 a.m. ET Sept. 19: A judge however ruled on Wednesday that Combs would remain in the Brooklyn federal jail after denying the entertainer’s request. Combs’ attorney offered a $50 million bail, GPS monitoring and limits on who could visit the rapper and producer, but the judge called the offer “insufficient” and that it would not ensure the safety of the community, The Associated Press reported.
The judge also said that there was “no condition or set of conditions” that would allow for his release to prevent Combs from threatening or harming witnesses.
Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo will try to get the judge’s decision overturned by petitioning the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Instead of being held at his Miami-area home, Agnifilo is asking to have him moved to a jail in New Jersey. The judge overseeing the case said the federal Bureau of Prisons oversees an inmate’s placement, the AP reported.
Original report: Combs’ lawyers have offered a $50 million bail package to allow him to be on home monitoring at his luxury home on a Florida island, The Associated Press reported.
His lawyers called the jail’s conditions “horrific” and the site of murders and suicides in recent years, NBC News reported. The attorneys also said that Combs fits the profile of someone who shouldn’t be in pre-trial custody.
Prosecutors said Combs is a flight risk because of his wealth and that the charges against him show he is a threat to the community.
“Sean Combs has never evaded, avoided, eluded or run from a challenge in his life,” attorney Marc Agnifilio said in a filing, according to the AP. “He will not start now.”
The music mogul is being held without bail on the federal charges filed earlier this week — racketeering, sex trafficking and interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution — all felonies. Prosecutors said he used his “power and prestige” to commit the alleged crimes.
Combs allegedly drugged women to perform with male sex workers in “Freak Offs” or sexual performance productions that could last for days.
As part of the bail package submitted by Agnifilio, the agreement would use the home he wants to stay at as collateral. He would wear a GPS monitor while on home detention and visitors would be restricted at his homes, allowing for family, property caretakers and friends who are not considered co-conspirators.
The home he wants to await trial in is on the manmade Star Island in Biscayne Bay and is only reachable by causeway or boat.
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