A lead prosecutor in the sex trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell has joined the prosecutorial team in the criminal case against Sean Combs.
Maurene Ryan Comey — the daughter of former FBI director James Comey — filed paperwork in the Southern District of New York on Monday, notifying the court that she is now part of the team leveling sex trafficking and racketeering charges against the Bad Boy Entertainment founder.
It’s the latest development in the high-profile case. Combs has been held without bail since his Sept. 16 arrest, losing his third bid to be released on a $50 million bail package last week. The 55-year-old, who pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, faces 15 years to life in prison if convicted.
Comey’s addition to the SDNY team is significant, as she was one of the three lead prosecutors in the government’s case against Maxwell, which saw Jeffrey Epstein’s “madam” convicted in Dec. 2021 of sex trafficking minors. The British socialite is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence. (Epstein was facing similar charges before he killed himself in August 2019 while awaiting trial.)
Maxwell has been the only co-conspirator prosecuted in connection to the Epstein case. She was described as his right-hand woman, accused of recruiting and grooming dozens of teens and young women for the billionaire financier to sexually abuse, sometimes participating in the abuse herself. Several victims claim they were minors at the time, some as young as 14.
“Maxwell and Epstein enticed and caused minor victims to travel to Epstein’s residences in different states, which Maxwell knew and intended would result in their grooming for and subjection to sexual abuse,” prosecutors said in a statement after Maxwell’s sentencing.
Comey’s expertise comes not just in prosecuting sex trafficking charges, but her knowledge of racketeering. Prosecutors argued that Combs relied on a number of unnamed people — such as business associates, “high-ranking supervisors,” personal assistants and security staff — to carry out alleged crimes, including “freak-offs.”
Comey’s appearance reignites questions on if anyone in Combs’ inner circle could be charged as a co-conspirator. Prosecutors have not charged anyone else in connection in the case, but they have repeatedly said their investigation is ongoing and a superseding indictment was “very much a possibility.” There were also reports that a grand jury was convened in October.
And although prosecutors haven’t identified any of Combs’ alleged associates, some accusers have alluded to and/or directly named some of Combs’ employees and business executives in their civil suits against Combs.
Casandra “Cassie” Ventura claimed in her since-settled civil suit that James Cruz, President of Bad Boy Management, tracked her down after she tried to flee Combs and “told her that her single would not be released if she did not answer Mr. Combs’s phone calls.” Producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones accused Combs’ chief of staff Kristina Khorram of being the “Ghislaine Maxwell to Sean Combs’ Jeffrey Epstein,” claiming she “ordered sex workers and prostitutes” for Combs. Former Bad Boy CEO Harve Pierre was named in Danity Kane singer Dawn Richard’s lawsuit for allegedly being present when Combs attempted to punch her and left her in a locked car for hours. (Reps for Cruz, Khorram and Pierre did not reply to requests for comment.)
Combs is facing 15 years to life in prison if convicted on the three charges brought against him in the 14-page indictment from September. SDNY prosecutors largely built their case around Ventura’s sex trafficking and sexual abuse lawsuit, where she accused Combs of physically abusing her and forcing her to engage in sexual acts with male sex workers throughout their decade-long relationship. (Combs denied her accusations and came to a private settlement with Ventura a day after she filed her lawsuit.)
The embattled music executive is also facing a growing pile of civil lawsuits, most recently from fashion designer Bryana “Bana” Bongolan who accused Combs of dangling her from Ventura’s 17th floor balcony in Sept. 2016. (Through a legal rep, Combs “firmly denies” her claims.) Bongolan is among the 30-plus men and women who have sued Combs, claiming they were threatened, physically assaulted, and/or sexually abused by Combs over the past three decades. Combs has vehemently denied all claims of sex abuse through his reps.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
