The 25-year-old accused of being Sean “Diddy” Combs’ alleged drug mule has struck a deal with Miami prosecutors following his arrest on possession of cocaine charges, Rolling Stone has confirmed.
Brendan Paul will avoid any jail time as part of the deal. Instead, he will have to enroll in a drug diversion program, a spokesperson for the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office told Rolling Stone. The deal was offered because Paul is considered a first-time offender, and the substance amount allegedly found was not of a “trafficking” level, the representative added.
“Brendan accepted the prosecutor’s offer to permit his entry into the diversion program which, after completion, the case against him will be dismissed in its entirety,” Paul’s attorney, Brian Bieber, said in a statement to Rolling Stone.
Police led Paul away in handcuffs on March 25 — the same day Homeland Security agents and local law enforcement officers raided Combs’ residences in Miami and Los Angeles as part of a federal sex trafficking investigation. Combs’ attorney, Aaron Dyer, called the raids an “excessive show of force and hostility.” (It’s unclear if Paul’s arrest was connected to the wider investigation into Combs.)
The raid was carried out just four months after Combs’ ex-girlfriend, singer Cassie, accused the Bad Boy founder of sex trafficking. Since her filing, three more women and a man accused the rap mogul of sexual assault. (Combs has denied their allegations.)
Paul had been at the Miami-Opa Locka airport with his boss, reportedly bound for a tropical vacation when federal agents arrived on the tarmac to question Combs. Only Paul was arrested when police allegedly found cocaine and marijuana candy in his personal travel bags, according to an arrest affidavit. Paul pleaded not guilty to the charges.
His arrest came weeks after music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones filed a bombshell lawsuit against Combs for sexual harassment and abuse in February. As part of his complaint, Jones accused Paul of being Combs’ drug “mule,” allegedly “acquir[ing] and distribut[ing]” drugs to Combs and his associates.
“Members of the enterprise and their associates procured, transported and distributed ecstasy, cocaine, GHB, ketamine, marijuana, mushrooms, and tuci by packing these substances in their carry-on luggage and going through TSA,” the lawsuit claims.
Jones claimed 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 on three separate occasions in December 2022, April 2023, and November 2023.