Sean “Diddy” Combs is being accused of trying to blackmail witnesses from jail.
Federal prosecutors claim Combs, 55, made “relentless efforts to contact potential witnesses” who were not on his approved contact list by using telephone access codes (known as PAC numbers), per the motion filed on Friday, November 15, and obtained by E! News.
If true, in addition to violating Bureau of Prisons regulations, the prosecution says the disgraced rapper’s alleged actions “corruptly influence witness testimony.” Prosecutors also claim the music mogul has been using ContactMeASAP and three-way calling in order to “obscure his communications.”
In their motion, the prosecution cited an October 4 call between Diddy and one of his adult sons as an example that “provides the clear inference that the defendant’s goal is to blackmail victims and witnesses either into silence or providing testimony helpful to his defense.” Details of the call between the rapper and one of his children were redacted in the court documents.
Prosecutors believe Diddy has been using these methods to arrange for people outside of prison to do as he asks. They also allege the phone call Diddy made on his birthday to family was used to launch a social media campaign “with the intention of influencing the potential jury in this criminal proceeding.”
In their filing, prosecutors also wrote, “On multiple calls, often using the PAC numbers of other inmates, the defendant is explicit about his intention to use public statements to alter public perception.”
The prosecution’s November 15 filing is in response to a motion filed by Combs’ legal team on November 8 which argued for the Bad Boy Records founder to be released on bail as he awaits his May 5 trial.
Diddy was arrested on September 16 facing charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has been accused of arranging “freak-offs” where he allegedly “used force” to “cause victims to engage in extended sex acts with male commercial sex workers that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during and often electronically recorded.”
