Sean Combs repeatedly called a hotel security guard “my angel” and offered the man his favorite tea during a high-stakes negotiation to purchase and bury the stunning video of Combs kicking and dragging his ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura in a hallway of the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles in March 2016, the security guard testified Monday.
Eddy Garcia took the witness stand and told jurors he initially rebuffed the first few calls from Combs’ chief of staff, Kristina Khorram, in which she sought to view and obtain the incriminating video. He told Khorram to get a subpoena. But Khorram eventually called him on his personal phone, making him “nervous,” he testified. Khorram then handed the phone to Combs, who started playing on Garcia’s sympathies, he said.
Combs called Garcia a “good guy” and allegedly told him that if the video got out, it would “ruin his career.” Garcia said he checked with his supervisor about brokering a deal, and the supervisor allegedly agreed to sell the video for $50,000.
“Eddy, my angel, I knew you could help. I knew you could do it,” Combs gushed when he learned they could make a deal, Garcia told jurors.
Garcia recalled being dispatched to a high-rise office building with the video on a thumb drive. When he arrived, his voice was cracking because he was so nervous, he said. Combs purportedly noticed and ordered Khorram to “go get him that tea I like,” Garcia said. Combs then asked for confirmation that the video on the thumb drive was the only copy left in existence, Garcia said. Combs wanted reassurance that “nothing was on the cloud,” Garcia testified.
When Garcia said he was concerned he might get in trouble if Ventura reported the incident, Combs allegedly placed a video call to Ventura.
“Let this guy know you want this to go away too,” Combs instructed Ventura during the call, Garcia said. Ventura purportedly said she had a movie coming out and wanted the incident to “go away” as well. He said her demeanor was calm at the time. (In her own testimony, Ventura shared photos of the busted lip and bruised face that she snapped after fleeing the caught-on-camera beating at the InterContinental.)
Editor’s picks
Garcia testified that once he heard from Ventura, he signed a declaration that the video on the thumb drive was the only existing copy. He also signed a non-disclosure agreement whose documents were dated March 7, 2011, two days after the hotel assault. They were printed on letterhead from Combs’ company, Combs Enterprises, according to images shown in court. The agreement said Garcia would be on the hook for $1 million if he violated the confidentiality clause. Garcia said he did not receive his own copy of the agreement.
“I was nervous, I was in a rush to get out of there,” he testified. Garcia said after he signed, Combs presented him with a brown paper bag filled with $100,000. Combs ran the cash through a money counter in front of him, separating the bills into stacks of $10,000, Garcia recalled. The former security guard said Khorram was walking in and out of the room during the meeting and that Combs personally walked him out of the building, warning him not to make any big purchases that might raise questions.
Garcia said he gave the first $50,000 to his boss and split the other $50,000 with the other security officer on duty at the time of the incident. He said Combs then called him on his personal phone a couple weeks later, wishing him a “Happy Easter” and again calling him “Eddy my angel.” He said Combs wanted to make sure no one had followed up with him, asking questions.
“God put you in my life for a reason,” Combs purportedly told him. Garcia said Combs ended the call saying that if Garcia “needed anything, to let him know.”
Related Content
During her opening statement delivered on the first day of Combs’ sex trafficking and racketeering trial in New York, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson said Combs used his inner circle to help facilitate the $100,000 bribe and “keep his reputation and his power intact.” She said the alleged instance of bribery and obstruction of justice supported the racketeering conspiracy charge in Combs’ indictment.
Combs’ defense lawyer, Teny Geragos, said in her opening statement that the $100,000 payment wasn’t paid to obstruct justice, as prosecutors claim. “This was solely, solely related to preventing bad publicity for both Combs and Cassie, and had nothing to do with obstructing a law enforcement investigation,” Geragos said.
Combs, 55, was arrested in September and has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy. If convicted as charged, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Trending Stories
Combs’ lawyers say he was a “swinger” who indulged his “kinky” proclivities with other consenting adults. They’ve acknowledged Ventura was the victim of an episode of domestic violence at the InterContinental hotel in 2016, but they deny Combs was a sex trafficker.
Prosecutors claim Combs ran a criminal enterprise that manipulated women into drug-fueled, highly orchestrated sex marathons with male escorts that Combs watched and recorded. The encounters were known as “freak-offs” and “wild king nights.” They say Combs relied on the employees, vast wealth, and influence of his “multi-faceted business empire” to fulfill his sexual desires. Beyond bribery and obstruction of justice, they say Combs and his inner circle engaged in threats, forced labor, kidnapping and arson.
