A Michigan inmate has been granted $100 million in a default civil suit judgment filed against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs for an alleged 1997 sexual assault.
Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith, who filed the civil suit against Diddy, 54, in June, was granted the award at a hearing on Monday in a Lenawee County Circuit Court in Michigan, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY.
A default judgment is made when either party in a case fails to take action, either by not responding to a summons or failure to appear in court. According to the court documents, neither appearances nor answers have been filed on behalf of Diddy in the case.
“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,” Diddy’s attorney Marc Agnifilo wrote in a statement to USA TODAY Tuesday. “His resume now includes committing a (sic) fraud on the court from prison, as Mr. Combs has never heard of him let alone been served with any lawsuit. Mr. Combs looks forward to having this judgment swiftly dismissed.”
Cardello-Smith, 51, is representing himself in the case. The inmate is serving up to 75 years for 2008 and 2019 first-degree criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping charges at Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility in Muskegon Heights, Michigan. Cardello-Smith was convicted on separate third-degree sexual conduct charges in 1998.
According to court documents, Cardello-Smith claimed he met Diddy at an after party at a Detroit Holiday Inn in June 1997. He drank with the music mogul and female guests, at first thinking the producer was a “really decent normal guy.” Cardello-Smith later joined Diddy and two women in private hotel room flanked by two guards, he alleged.
Cardello-Smith claimed he began to have sex with one of the women when he felt Diddy touch his buttocks. The interaction led Cardello-Smith to disengage, and when the rapper noticed, he allegedly offered Cardello-Smith a drink.
Cardello-Smith alleged he woke up to find himself bleeding and in pain. The inmate claims he filed a police report, later alleging the producer “paid Detroit and Monroe Police Officers to keep it hidden.”
