Diddy's Lawyer Slams 'Unjust Prosecution' After Shock Arrest Following Federal Indictment

Sean "Diddy" Combs has been arrested by the authorities after a federal grand jury indicted him.

The arrest follows a wave of sexual assault lawsuits that began with claims from his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in late November.

After the rapper Diddy's arrest, his attorney, Marc Agnifilo, defended him, stating that his client was not a "criminal" and labeling the indictment as an "unjust prosecution."

After months of speculation about charges being brought against Diddy, the rapper has been arrested in the wake of a federal indictment.

Although the exact charges he is facing are still unclear, his attorney, Agnifilo, has already acted in his defense, slamming the federal prosecutors' decision to move on with a case against the rapper.

"We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr Combs by the US Attorney's Office," Agnifilo said in a statement to The Blast.

He continued, "Sean 'Diddy' Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community. He is an imperfect person, but he Is not a criminal. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges."

The lawyer concluded, "Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court."

According to reports, Diddy was taken into custody on Monday night at about 8.30 p.m. somewhere at Park Hyatt, New York, on 57th Street.

The music mogul has reportedly been in New York since last week and came to the city in anticipation of the charges from the federal indictment.

The US attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, confirmed Diddy's arrest in a tweet on X (formerly Twitter) on the same day.

He wrote, "Earlier this evening, federal agents arrested Sean Combs, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY. We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time."

The arrest comes after several sexual assault lawsuits were brought against Diddy in recent months by former acquaintances.

One of them came from the rapper's ex, Cassie Ventura, who accused him of rape and long-term physical abuse.

While Diddy quickly settled the case, it opened the door to other suits, including one from April Lampros.

Lampros alleged that between 1995 and 2001, she endured four frightening sexual encounters with Diddy, three of which included rape, along with another where the rapper allegedly forced her to take ecstasy.

It remains unclear what convinced a federal grand jury to indict the rapper, but their decision might be linked to videos obtained from raids conducted on Diddy's residences across the country.

Federal prosecutors reportedly contacted some individuals seen in the videos, and they might have testified in front of the grand jury.

At the time of the raid, sources confirmed that Diddy was the subject of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation, according to CNN.

It strongly suggests that the charges against the rapper will align with such an investigation once the indictment is unsealed.

Regarding why it took this long for the indictment, it is believed that federal prosecutors wanted to ensure their case was "bulletproof" to prevent Diddy's lawyers from finding a way to get him off.

According to TMZ, the disgraced rap mogul is seeking an off-market sale of one of his homes for a whopping $70 million, a $30 million higher price than he initially paid for the pad in 2014.

The Holmby Hills mansion spans 17,000 square feet and boasts eight bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a 35-seat theater, a gym, a wine room, and a 3,000-square-foot guest house.

The property also includes outdoor amenities such as a lagoon-style pool with an underwater swimming tunnel, a basketball half-court, and meticulously maintained gardens.

Diddy's Holmby Hills mansion was one of the rapper's homes raided by federal law enforcement agents back in March.