“Mr. Paul is pleased to close this chapter of his life,” Brendan Paul’s lawyer tells Rolling Stone
The personal assistant accused of being Sean Combs’ drug “mule” had his two pending drug charges terminated Tuesday after he completed a court-ordered diversion program in Florida, his lawyer confirmed to Rolling Stone.
Brendan Paul, 25, was with Combs at the Miami-Opa Locka airport last March when he was arrested and led away in handcuffs on the same day federal authorities raided Combs’ residences in Miami and Los Angeles as part of a federal sex trafficking investigation. Officials searched Paul’s bag and allegedly found cocaine and marijuana candy. As a first-time offender, he was offered an alternative to prosecution.
“Mr. Paul’s case was formally dismissed today in its entirety. We are pleased that all charges have been dropped and the case closed,” Paul’s lawyer Brian H. Bieber told Rolling Stone by phone Tuesday night. “Mr. Paul is pleased to close this chapter of his life.”
Paul’s arrest followed a month after music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones sued Combs for sexual harassment and mentioned Paul by name. Jones alleged that Paul “works as Mr. Combs’ drug mule. He acquires and distributes Mr. Combs’ drugs and guns.” Jones said he “personally witnessed” Paul transport or intend to transport illegal substances in his baggage while traveling between Los Angeles, Miami, Virginia, the Caribbean, and London on three separate occasions between December 2022 and late 2023.
It was in November 2023 that Combs’ ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura first sued Combs for sex trafficking and rape, leading to a wave of similar lawsuits and a criminal probe. (Combs and Ventura reached a settlement a day after she filed her suit.)
Combs, 55, was indicted in September and has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transportation to engage in prostitution. The media mogul was arrested in New York City on Sept. 16 and has been detained since. He’s currently housed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. His trial is set for May 2025.
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