Rap Figure ‘Puffy’ Combs Indicted on Gun Charges

NEW YORK —  A grand jury in Manhattan Thursday indicted Sean “Puffy” Combs, one of the wealthiest and most powerful entrepreneurs in the sometimes violent world of rap music, on two charges of weapon possession stemming from a December argument punctuated by gunfire at a Times Square dance club.

Combs’ bodyguard Anthony “Wolf” Jones, 34, was indicted on the same charges.

Three people were wounded in the shooting at the Club New York two days after Christmas. After questioning by detectives, Jennifer Lopez, the actress-singer and Combs’ companion at the time, was cleared of involvement in the melee. She had fled the scene in a sport-utility vehicle with Combs, according to police.

No date was set for arraignment of the Grammy-winning rap mogul, who could face 15 years in state prison if convicted.

“I want to make it clear to one and all that at no time during the evening in question did Mr. Combs have possession or control of any weapon,” Johnnie Cochran, one of Combs’ lawyers, said shortly after the grand jury’s action was made public.

“I cooperated with the D.A.’s office investigation into the shooting at Club New York,” Lopez said in a statement. “I am surprised and saddened to learn of the indictment against Sean Combs.”

“I was with him on that night of the shooting. At no time did I ever see him with a gun,” she added.

Pointedly, Manhattan Dist. Atty. Robert M. Morgenthau said that Wardel Fedderson, 41, who drove the Combs vehicle, was not charged. He is expected to testify as a prosecution witness at Combs’ trial.

Previously indicted on charges of attempted murder in the second degree, reckless endangerment, assault and criminal use of a firearm was Jamal Barrow, 19, a rapper with Combs’ Bad Boy record label.

Prosecutors allege that Barrow shot three people in the club with a semiautomatic 9-millimeter handgun after a patron threw “a stack of money” in the face of the 30-year-old Combs. Barrow was arrested after he ran from the club.

Combs, Lopez, Combs’ bodyguard and his driver fled the scene about 2:55 a.m. in a Lincoln Navigator, which was registered to Bad Boy records. Police pursued the car, which they said ran 11 red lights. When they stopped it, officers said, they found a loaded pistol stolen in Georgia on the floor of the front passenger seat where Jones was sitting.

Morgenthau said that a second weapon had been thrown from the vehicle and was recovered on the street. He said that authorities believe the second gun, registered to a man in West Virginia and also a semiautomatic 9-millimeter, had been stolen. The theft, however, had not been reported.

Morgenthau said that both pistols were loaded with a combination of hollow-point and regular bullets and had been fired, though he would not discuss when or whether they had been discharged at the dance club.

“That’s something we aren’t going to get into,” the district attorney said. “We’re not saying how soon before they were recovered the guns were fired.”

Morgenthau also declined to answer questions about whether Combs had brandished a weapon in the club. “That’s evidence. We wouldn’t discuss that,” he said.

Prosecutors charged Combs with possession of both guns. Specifically, he was accused of second-degree possession of a weapon, meaning that he had a loaded gun with intent to use it. He also was charged with third-degree possession, which is simple possession of a gun.

Morgenthau said that the registration for the vehicle had been signed by Combs. The car had two concealed compartments that were not standard equipment. No ammunition was found in the compartments, “known in the trade as traps,” the district attorney said.

Combs was free on $10,000 bail on the weapon charges when the grand jury’s action was announced.

A conviction could have a devastating effect on Combs’ career. Already, questions are being raised about the entrepreneur’s future at Bertelsmann Music Group, where he operates a joint venture label with BMG’s Arista division. Sources inside BMG said that top officials at the German entertainment conglomerate are disturbed about allegations of violent behavior involving Combs and his employees.

If he is convicted of a felony, sources said, BMG probably will cut its ties with Bad Boy. Even if the record label were able to survive such a blow, Combs could no longer legally call the shots at Bad Boy. It is against the law for an inmate to operate a business from prison.

Times staff writer Chuck Philips in Los Angeles contributed to this story.