Disgraced music mogul Sean “P. Diddy” Combs has been ordered to pay $100 million to a Michigan inmate as a result of a sexual assault judgment.
A Michigan inmate won a $100 million default judgment against Combs for sexual assault, according to a report by Metro Times.
Lenawee County Circuit Court Judge Anna Marie Anzalone issued Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith with the award on Monday, after Combs failed to appear to a virtual court hearing. Notably, a default judgment is granted when a defendant fails to formally respond to legally filed proceedings in a civil lawsuit.
Judge Anzalone reportedly scheduled the payment to begin on October 1, and to be paid in installments of $10 million per month.
The embattled music mogul, who has been hit with multiple lawsuits and criminal investigations over the past year, reportedly drugged and sexually assaulted Cardello-Smith at a party in Detroit in 1997.
Cardello-Smith, who has a history of challenging the judicial system with lawsuits, “is a self-taught student of civil and criminal statutes,” serving jail time in an unrelated sentence, Metro Times reported.
The inmate told the outlet that he goes “way back” with Combs, who he allegedly met while working in the restaurant and hospitality industry in Detroit.
Notably, Monday’s default comes after Cardello-Smith was granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) against Combs in early August, according to court documents obtained by the outlet.
The TRO was reportedly issued to stop Combs from selling assets that could potentially be used to compensate Cardello-Smith.
Cardello-Smith reportedly provided prison visitor records to the court revealing Combs’s name on the visitor log, and claimed the music mogul offered him $2.3 million to dismiss the lawsuit.
During a court hearing in August, the inmate recalled an alleged conversation he had with Combs, in which he claimed the Bad Boy Records founder told him, “You know how we get down,” in response to Cardello-Smith refusing to accept an out-of-court settlement.
Cardello-Smith told Judge Anzalone that he replied to Combs, stating, “I disagree with how you get down.”
The judgement awarded to Cardello-Smith on Monday could be the largest default granted to a non-attorney and an inmate in history, Metro Times noted.
“This man is a convicted felon and sexual predator, who has been sentenced on 14 counts of sexual assault and kidnapping over the last 26 years,” Combs’s attorney Marc Agnifilo told the outlet.
“His resume now includes committing a fraud on the court from prison, as Mr. Combs has never heard of him let alone been served with any lawsuit,” Agnifilo added. “Mr. Combs looks forward to having this judgment swiftly dismissed.”
Combs, meanwhile, has recently listed his Beverly Hills mansion — which was raided by Homeland Security earlier this year — for sale for $61.5 million, according to a report by Mansion Global.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.