The downfall of Sean "Diddy" Combs continues with another strange twist. On Tuesday, a judge in Michigan awarded someone named Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith, who happens to be serving an unrelated prison sentence, a $100 million default judgment from Combs.
Cardello-Smith filed suit against Combs, alleging he was groped by the rap mogul at a party in the late 1990s. He claimed that Combs gave him a spiked drink that caused him to pass out. When he woke up to the sight of Combs having sex with a woman, the rapper allegedly turned to Cardello-Smith and said: "I did this to you too."
Paras Griffin/Getty Images
The statute of limitations on such a crime might be considered past, but the ruling judge didn't comment one way or the other. And the $100 million in damages could very well be the biggest ever awarded to a non-attorney currently serving a prison sentence. The default judgment happened because Diddy chose not to appear at all for the hearing, but his attorney, Marc Agnifilo, did respond to the ruling in a press statement:
"This man [Cardello-Smith] is a convicted felon and sexual predator who has been sentenced on 14 counts of sexual assault and kidnapping over the last 26 years. 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. Mr. Combs looks forward to having this judgment swiftly dismissed."
Contrary to Agnifilo's statement, Cardello-Smith told the Metro Times that he and Combs went "way back" and even reportedly provided evidence that he had been visited by Combs in prison. He says Combs offered him $2.3 million to dismiss his lawsuit, an offer he rejected.
According to Michigan law, Combs theoretically needs to pay Cardello-Smith $10 million per month starting on October 1. It's not clear what his next legal move might be, but he is facing plenty of other legal problems in the meantime, in the form of both civil lawsuits and at least one federal investigation. The news also comes as he was reported to have officially put the Los Angeles mansion that was recently raided by federal investigators up for sale with an asking price of $62 million.
