More Trouble for 'Puffy'

Sean "Puffy" Combs' rap career may be threatened by another criminal charge, but he can find solace knowing his attorney pays a lot of attention to him.

Not only is defense attorney Benjamin Brafman preparing to defend the rap mogul from a bribery charge related to a nightclub shooting in December, but he also knows Combs attended the Grammy awards with girlfriend Jennifer Lopez, who wore a traffic-stopping outfit.

"The bribery charge is as transparent as the dress," Brafman said Tuesday, referring to Lopez's whispery outfit last week.

Combs, 30, and bodyguard Anthony "Wolf" Jones, 34, are accused of offering $50,000 and a diamond ring that Lopez gave Combs to Wardell Fenderson, as long as the rapper's driver would say he owned a gun that police found in their car.

Jones also was arraigned on the bribery charge and pleaded not guilty.

Both were already indicted on a felony gun charge after police found a 9-mm automatic in the Lincoln Navigator they were riding in the night of Dec. 27 when the group - including Lopez - fled the scene of a nightclub shooting. Lopez was not charged, nor was Fenderson, 41.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos told State Supreme Court Justice Charles Solomon that the defendants put "relentless" pressure on Fenderson, offering him money first at the front desk with police looking on, then in a holding cell and later by telephone.

Bogdanos also said Combs and Jones had open gun cases in Moline, Ill., and Washington, D.C. In the Moline case, Bogdanos said, a limo driver found two loaded stolen guns on the back seat of the Rolls-Royce the two had rented, and in Washington, a hotel maid found two stolen guns in their room.

Bogdanos said that although law enforcement agencies in those jurisdictions were not actively pursuing the cases, he was looking at them with a view to having the information admitted at Combs' trial.

Brafman said the new charge is an attempt to shore up a weak gun case against his client.

"There was no bribery attempt," Brafman said. "Mr. Fenderson, who is cooperating with the district attorney's office, has not been charged and is obviously trying to put a spin on it."

The judge set bail at $20,000 each for Combs and Jones on the bribery charge. The decision hiked their bail amounts, first set for the gun charges, from $10,000 to $30,000 for Combs and from $20,000 to $40,000 for Jones.

The gun charges and the subsequent bribery allegation arise from a shooting at Club New York in the Times Square area. Allegedly, a man threw money in Combs' face and Jamal "Shyne" Barrow, 19, a Combs protege, shot three people during the dispute.

Police stopped the sports utility vehicle that Combs, Lopez and the others were in as it ran through a red light while speeding away from the club. Police found one gun on the floor of the vehicle and another, allegedly thrown from a car window, on the ground nearby.

Barrow, who was also in cort, is not involved in the bribery case. The judge, at Bogdanos' request, raised his bail to include $15,000 cash bail in addition to the $35,000 bond he has already posted.

The judge gave the defendants until Friday to post the higher bail.

By Samuel Maull
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