An ex-college basketball player who was arrested in Miami-Dade testifies that Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs got ‘extremely creative’ on drugs
NEW YORK AP A former Syracuse University basketball athlete who worked not long ago for Sean Diddy Combs as a personal assistant testified at the music mogul s sex trafficking trial on Friday that Combs got extremely creative when he was on drugs Brendan Paul was arrested last year at a Miami airport with cocaine he says belonged to Combs and he testified with immunity about what it was like working for the hip-hop entrepreneur for a year and a half Paul was arrested in March the same day federal agents conducted multiple searches related to the Combs inquiry Prosecutors are winding down their incident after six weeks of testimony from an array of onlookers ranging from ex-girlfriends and former employees to male sex workers and the rapper Kid Cudi Ye formerly known as Kanye West even made a surprise appearance at the courthouse The prosecution seeks to convince the jury that Combs oversaw a sprawling racketeering enterprise for two decades that relied on obedience by employees willing to do anything for him including buying drugs when necessary Defense lawyers say Combs did not commit federal crimes although they acknowledge that prosecutors have exposed domestic violence during the trial After pleading not guilty following his September arrest at a Manhattan hotel Combs has been held without bail at a federal lockup in Brooklyn Prosecutors were expected to rest their event by Monday A defense presentation is expected to last from two to five days Paul reported he bought drugs for Combs between five and times spending up to for drugs including cocaine ketamine ecstasy and marijuana He announced he only did drugs with Combs once when Combs appealed him to try tusi also known as pink cocaine to see if it was good Paul noted he did so because he desired to prove my loyalty and noted he thought it was good We continued on with our night he explained Assistant U S Attorney Christy Slavic Paul commented that prior to his arrest he had forgotten about the cocaine after collecting it while sweeping Combs room that morning and had accidentally left it in a bag he carried as he prepared to go on vacation with Combs and other aides The charges were dismissed after Paul completed a pretrial diversion venture Under questioning by defense attorney Brian Steel Paul disclosed his heart dropped when he realized that there was cocaine in a expedition bag after telling officers at the airport that everything in the bag belonged to him Steel urged Paul if Combs was generally happy and didn t hurt anyone when he was on drugs He got extremely creative Paul responded At another point Steel questioned the witness You would not work for a criminal would you Absolutely not Paul responded Slavic though elicited Paul s mixed feelings about Combs when the prosecutor petitioned him just before he finished his testimony Sitting here the present day how do you feel about Mr Combs It s complicated he answered Paul originally from Cleveland was a -foot- guard who walked on at Syracuse University and came off the bench in games over two seasons playing a total of minutes and scored just points He later transferred to lower-tier Fairmont State University in West Virginia where he played for two more seasons
