Diddy trial updates: Alleged 'drug mule' Brendan Paul recalls private jet arrest
This story contains graphic descriptions that some readers may find disturbing.
Court is back in session in Sean "Diddy" Combs' criminal trial after an unexpected two-day break.
Following an abrupt adjournment on June 18 due to a juror's health issues and the immediately following Juneteenth holiday on June 19, the embattled hip-hop mogul returned to Manhattan federal court on June 20 for the tail end of the prosecution's witnesses.
Combs' former assistant Brendan Paul took the stand June 20. The 26-year-old former Syracuse University basketball player and alleged "drug mule" previously faced felony charges for drug possession when he was arrested on the same day as the raids of Combs' homes, but the case was later closed.
Paul's testimony comes after prosecutors on June 17 revealed personal messages between Combs, his girlfriends and his associates and also showed jurors around 20 minutes of what appeared to be video footage created between 2012 and 2014 of Combs' "freak offs."
U.S. attorneys were expected to rest their case on June 20; the day's proceedings will reveal whether that schedule changes.
Combs, 55, was arrested in September and charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty.
Diddy on trial newsletter: Step inside the courtroom as music mogul faces sex-crimes charges.
Paul's employment ended in March 2024, he said. He was on a private jet with Kristina "KK" Khorram and Combs headed for the Bahamas, when he got arrested for cocaine possession.
On the stand, Paul testified that this was just cocaine he had forgotten in his bag when he went to the airport. It was 0.7 grams, he said, which Steel characterized as for "personal use as best." The cocaine was for Combs.
"It was a mistake, right?" Steel said, to which Paul responded, "Correct," explaining neither Khorram nor Combs had asked him to bring the drugs that day, he had just forgotten them.
Steel seemed to make the suggestion that hard drugs made Combs more creative, happy and productive, and that it was in some ways beneficial to his process. "He got extremely creative. It was just an explosion," the attorney said.
"You were not some drug mule, am I right?" Brian Steel, a defense lawyer for Combs, asked during cross-examination, to which Paul responded: "Absolutely not." Asked by Steel what he understood a drug mule to be, Paul said: "Someone who traffics kilos and kilos across the world."
Steel then suggested that the amount of drugs Combs used was minimal. "This was just personal use?" he asked, to which Paul responded: "Yes, that was my understanding." Asked whether he ever observed Combs' ex-girlfriend Jane Doe, being hesitant or apprehensive before a "freak off." Paul responded no, confirming Steel's assertion that the woman, who is using a pseudonym for the trial, was "a willing participant."
"You would not work for a criminal, would you?" Steel asked, to which Paul responded: "Absolutely not."
"You never thought the 'king night' involved anything that was criminal?" Steel pushed further, referencing another name for the "freak off" sex parties that have taken a central role in the trial.
Earlier in Paul's testimony, he described the large team that Combs employed as an enterprise. Steel asked during cross-examination: "You're not saying a criminal enterprise?" and Paul responded no.
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In testimony that took less than 2 hours, Paul, an alleged "drug mule" for Combs, took the stand to recount his employment with the music mogul. Paul graduated in 2022 from Syracuse and was hired as Combs' personal assistant shortly after.
Another former assistant had told him to get in to get out and to make good connections, but that it would be a very tumultuous job, Paul told jurors. The assistant told Paul if he had a girlfriend to break up with her, and that he would never see his family, but it would be worth it for the connections.
Paul's duties included making Combs' meal plans, coordinating workouts, packing "a lot of joints" and making sure he was on time for things like flights. Paul said he usually worked between 80 and 100 hours a week, but was always on call. He started at $76,000 a year, but by the time his employment was over, he was making $100,000 a year, Paul told jurors.
Asked about procuring drugs for Combs, Paul said he did it more than five times but less than 10. He observed Combs doing cocaine, ketamine, marijuana and ecstasy, but not all that often, he said, and verified that he had arranged and cleaned up after "hotel nights" but only a few times.
In February 2024, music producer and Combs' collaborator Rodney "Lil Rod" Jones Jr. mentioned Paul in his civil lawsuit against Combs that alleged sexual assault and harassment.
On the afternoon of March 25, 2024 — the same day Combs' homes were raided in Miami and Los Angeles — Paul was arrested by local police at the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport. Per an arrest affidavit obtained by USA TODAY at the time, Florida prosecutors leveled two felony charges of possession of a controlled substance against him, alleging he'd packed cocaine and marijuana-laced candy in his luggage.
"Brendan Paul: Works as Mr. Combs' Mule," Jones' lawsuit said, adding two photos of Paul and Combs together for reference. Jones claimed Paul allegedly "procured, transported and distributed" drugs including ecstasy, cocaine, GHB, ketamine, marijuana and mushrooms. Jones also said Paul would acquire and distribute guns for Combs and "negotiate the fees the sex workers received and would ensure that the workers are paid" on Combs' behalf.On Dec. 17, 2024, prosecutors declined to proceed with the one outstanding charge of cocaine possession, and the case was closed. Paul had "completed a pre-trial diversion course sometimes offered for first-time offenders," his attorney told USA TODAY at the time.
Combs' sex-trafficking trial unexpectedly adjourned on June 18 due to a juror's health. Judge Arun Subramanian excused the jury in Combs' trial after a juror reported vertigo-like symptoms on the way into court. The trial was already scheduled to take a brief recess on June 19 in observance of the Juneteenth holiday before returning June 20.
The videos were shown in three to four-minute increments on June 17. Jurors were all wearing earphones, and the monitors that had been used during testimony were cut off to the courtroom gallery. At one point, the gallery could hear the faint sound of heavy breathing, and the judge reminded jurors to make sure that their headphones were fully on because the microphone feed appeared to be picking up the video.
Throughout the roughly 20 minutes of footage, DeLeassa Penland, a special agent for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, looked uncomfortable on the stand and at one point appeared to close her eyes and wince.
Phone and text records unveiled June 17 showed Combs pleaded with former girlfriend Casandra "Cassie" Ventura Fine to return to the Los Angeles-area hotel where surveillance footage captured him attacking her in a hallway.
"I went and checked everything and spoke to security. Jules left so you're good and as long as you don't disturb the other guests, they'll leave you be," Ventura Fine texted him, referring to a sex worker they hired for an alleged "freak off."
"I am about to be arrested," Combs texted Ventura Fine after she left the hotel, saying police were at the building. Records showed he called her five times in 22 minutes, but there's no evidence law enforcement was involved in the incident.
While 50 Cent hasn't been announced as a witness in Combs' trial, the rapper is looking to give President Donald Trump his two cents on the legal matter. In an Instagram post on May 30, the "In da Club" emcee said he would reach out to Trump after the president said he would "look at the facts" in Combs' case, suggesting a pardon could be on the table.
The rapper shared a clip of the president's comments in his post and wrote that Combs "said some really bad things about Trump," adding that he will "reach out so he knows how I feel about this guy."
Despite videos circulating online, which appear to show artificially generated court sketches of Eddie Murphy testifying at the Combs trial, the actor hasn't been in the courtroom and isn't expected to be called as a witness.
While a specter of celebrity hangs heavy over the proceedings, many of the big names roped in have merely been name-drops from the stand by lesser-known witnesses from Combs' inner circle.
The only true "celebrities" to testify thus far have been Casandra "Cassie" Ventura Fine, Kid Cudi and Danity Kane singer Dawn Richard.
Combs is facing federal sex-crimes and trafficking charges in a sprawling case that has eroded his status as a power player and kingmaker in the entertainment industry.
He was arrested in September 2024 and later charged with racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. The rapper has pleaded not guilty to the five counts against him.
Racketeering is the participation in an illegal scheme under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Statute, or RICO, as a way for the U.S. government to prosecute organizations that contribute to criminal activity.
Using RICO law, which is typically aimed at targeting multi-person criminal organizations, prosecutors allege that Combs coerced victims, some of whom they say were sex workers, through intimidation and narcotics to participate in "freak offs" — sometimes days-long sex performances that federal prosecutors allege they have on video.
The trial will not be televised, as cameras are typically not allowed in federal criminal trial proceedings.
USA TODAY will be reporting live from the courtroom. Sign up for our newsletter for more updates.
Contributing: USA TODAY staff
If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español RAINN.org/es.
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or text "START" to 88788.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Diddy trial updates: Alleged 'drug mule' Brendan Paul testifies
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