NE Ohio man accused of being Combs’ drug mule
A Northeast Ohio man is facing federal charges following his arrest at a Miami airport, accused of being a drug mule for Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Former Syracuse University basketball player Brendan Paul was arrested by Miami-Dade Police Department officers at the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport on felony charges of possession of suspected cocaine and possession of suspected marijuana candy, USA TODAY reports. The arrest was made as a result of a joint effort with Miami-Dade, the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection, per the affidavit.
Paul is referred to as Combs’ “mule” in Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones Jr.’s civil lawsuit against the Bad Boy founder and Cuba Gooding Jr. alleging sexual assault and harassment.
Jones, in a lawsuit filed in a New York federal district court in early March, referred to Paul as Combs’ “mule,” writing that he allegedly “procured, transported and distributed ecstasy, cocaine, GHB, ketamine, marijuana, mushrooms, and tuci (pink powder typically comprised of blended ecstacy and ketamine) by packing these substances in their carryon luggage and going through TSA.”
Who is Brendan Paul? His Ohio ties and connection to Diddy
Paul is originally from Shaker Heights. The New York Post reports that he currently lives with his parents, Curt and Mary Jo, in Chagrin Falls, according to the Florida police report.
He attended a private New England boarding school for the first three years of high school, then transferred to Hawken High, a private day school in Ohio, for his senior year, the Post reports.
In college, Paul spent his freshman and sophomore years at Syracuse University in New York before transferring to Fairmont State University in West Virginia.
He played Division I college basketball at Syracuse from 2018 to 2020 before transferring to Division II Fairmont State in 2020, the Post reports, playing an average of under 10 minutes per game.
Paul became an amateur music producer during the pandemic, the Post reports. He “started making beats from my laptop,” according to a 2020 Facebook post. He produced for Combs on “The Love Album,” which was released in September.
Feds raid Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ homes as part of investigation
Federal agents searched two properties belonging to Combs on Monday as part of an ongoing investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving the hiphop mogul.
The federal raid is the latest spotlight cast on Combs on the heels of multiple sexual abuse and sex trafficking allegations filed against him in recent months.
Combs’ lawyer slammed the raids, them a “witch hunt based on meritless accusations.”
Aaron Dyer, a corporate investigations and white-collar defense lawyer for Combs, said the music mogul is innocent in a statement to USA TODAY on
Tuesday.
“Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences,” Dyer said. “There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated.”
Diddy’s history of sexual assault allegations
The rapper has been the subject of several recent sexual assault allegations in recent months.
His former girlfriend, R&B singer Casandra Ventura, known professionally as Cassie, filed a sex trafficking and sexual assault lawsuit against Combs in November, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY.
Days later, a woman named Joi Dickerson-Neal filed a lawsuit against Combs alleging she was drugged, sexually assaulted and abused, and was the victim of “revenge porn.”