Hip-hop music mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs pleads not guilty to new federal sex trafficking charges on Monday

Hip-hop music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan courtroom Monday afternoon to new federal charges of sex trafficking and transporting victims to engage in prostitution in a superseding indictment as his trial is scheduled to begin next month.

"Not guilty," said Combs, 55, inside a 26th-floor courtroom in lower Manhattan when asked how he wanted to plea.

Combs, who was not handcuffed, stood with his lawyers as the presiding judge queried whether Combs had read the charges, discussed them with his lawyers and understood them.

"Yes, I have, judge," Combs said, adding he would waive the public reading of the charges, a customary practice of defendants.

The two new charges facing Combs — sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution — allege conduct between 2021 and 2024 and a victim identified only as "Victim-2."

Combs was arrested and has been held without bail since last September on charges that he and his underlings lured women into his world "under the pretense of a romantic relationship" and then used force and intimidation to get them to engage in sex acts with male sex workers during "freak off" sex parties, federal prosecutors have said.

Combs, the founder of the legendary hip-hop record label Bad Boy records, has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

Combs, wearing a tan-colored prison uniform and his usual dark hair noticeably gray, turned in his seat briefly to scan the audience before the proceeding began and smiled widely and waved when he spotted Lisa Evers, the Fox 5 News reporter and host of the "Street Soldiers with Lisa Evers" TV and radio show that is widely known in the hip-hop community.

Evers smiled and returned Combs’ greeting.

Combs’ mother and children, who have attended several of his previous court appearances, were not present in court Monday.

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian said Combs’ lawyers have 48 hours to file a request for a delay to the start of Combs’ trial, which is scheduled to begin with jury selection on May 5 and opening statements on May 12.

"We are a freight train moving toward trial," Subramanian said.

Combs’ attorneys Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos complained to the judge that prosecutors failed to provide the defense with around 200,000 emails from a key witness, who Geragos said had "been allowed to cherry-pick messages" to be submitted to prosecutors while leaving out others the defense contends could be exculpatory to their client, providing important context.

"It’s troubling to us," Geragos said.

Agnifilo said in court he may seek a two-week adjournment to the start of Combs’ trial to deal with the issue.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Slavik said prosecutors had not sought all of the messages due to "efficiency and resource constraints" and had asked the attorney for the witness, a former Combs’ employee, to search her email for certain keywords such as Combs’ name and one of the victim’s names.

Slavik dismissed the defense’s concerns calling it "gamesmanship that’s going on here."

Prosecutors have said illegal guns, three AR-15 rifles with defaced serial numbers and large supplies of lubricant and baby oil, were found in Combs’ mansions in California and Florida.

Combs, who was closely associated with fallen rap superstar and Brooklyn native Notorious B.I.G., has been cited as one of the most influential figures in hip-hop.

But his fortune as a celebrated member of hip-hop elite turned when his former girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, filed a lawsuit saying he had beaten her and raped her over the course of their decadelong relationship.

Combs settled the suit with Ventura without disclosing the settlement price, but months later CNN aired hotel security footage showing Combs punching and kicking Ventura and throwing her to the floor.

Agnifilo has said the victims wanted to be at the "freak offs" and consented to the sex, while saying his client has been receiving therapy and had been involved in "toxic relationships."

After Monday’s hearing concluded, Combs stood and put his hand on Agnifilo’s back as the two spoke for about 30 seconds. Combs was then led to a back room to be taken back to the Metropolitan Detention Center, the Brooklyn facility where he’s been held.

Agnifilo and Geragos left court without commenting to reporters.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.