Man accused as Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ ‘drug mule’ avoids jail time in South Florida

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — The man accused of being a “drug mule” for rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs avoided jail time in South Florida after being arrested on drug charges in March, prosecutors said.

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Brendan Paul, 25, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, agreed on Friday to complete a six-month drug and substance abuse course, WSVN-TV reported. Paul’s attorney, Brian Bieber, confirmed that he will enter a pretrial diversion program and his case will be dismissed once it is completed, according to the television station.

According to TMZ, a representative for the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said the deal was a “standard offer to a non-violent defendant with no priors.”

Paul was taken into custody at Miami-Opa locka Executive Airport on March 25, the Miami Herald reported.

According to an arrest report from Miami-Dade County police, Paul was taken into custody for allegedly being in possession of suspected cocaine and marijuana-laced candy, according to WKYC-TV. He was charged with one count of cocaine possession and one count of possession of a controlled substance.

His arrest was not related to federal raids on Combs’ mansions on Star Island in Miami Beach and in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles on the same day, the Miami Herald reported. Combs was not mentioned in Paul’s arrest affidavit, according to WSVN.

“The defendant had the contraband inside of his personal travel bags, which he claimed prior to being searched,” an arrest report stated. “The suspect cocaine was located and tested by agents.”

Combs has not been criminally charged in the federal investigations at his two residences as of Friday, WPLG-TV reported.

The raids came a month after Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones Jr. filed a lawsuit against Combs in a Manhattan federal district court, The New York Times reported. In a 79-page lawsuit, Jones alleged that Combs, his staff and music executives knew about -- and were also involved in -- illicit and unwanted sexual activities in Florida, New York, California and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to the Herald.

In his complaint, Jones describes a man named Brendan Paul as “Mr. Combs’ Mule,” according to the newspaper. The man named in the lawsuit was also referred to as an alleged distributor of Combs’ drugs and weapons. The man arrested and the complaint spell Paul’s first name slightly differently, as “Brendon,” the Herald reported.

Jones claims that 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 in December 2022, April 2023 and November 2023, Rolling Stone reported, citing the lawsuit.

According to WSTM-TV, Paul was a walk-on basketball player at Syracuse for his freshman and sophomore seasons. He appeared in 17 games for limited minutes. The television station reported that Paul transferred to Fairmount State University in West Virginia in 2020, where he played his junior and senior years.

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