Paul was charged with felony cocaine possession last month
Sean Diddy Combs’ alleged drug mule Brendan Paul has struck a deal.
PEOPLE has confirmed that Paul will avoid jail time following his arrest in March for cocaine and marijuana possession amid federal sex trafficking accusations the hip-hop mogul is facing. The 25-year-old has now entered a drug diversion program.
“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,” said Brian Bieber, Paul’s attorney, in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.
A representative for the Miami-Dade State Attorney said this was a “standard offer to a non-violent defendant with no priors,” TMZ reports.
On March 27, Paul, a former Syracuse University basketball player, was arrested on cocaine and marijuana possession felony charges.
An affidavit obtained by PEOPLE stated that he was taken into custody at Opa-Locka airport by Miami-Dade police working alongside Homeland Security agents, who raided Combs’ two homes around the same time that day. The affidavit alleged that Paul was arrested after he was caught with suspected cocaine and marijuana in his travel bags.
Paul had previously been named in a civil sexual assault lawsuit filed by Combs’ former producer and videographer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, in which Jones alleged Paul was Combs’ “mule” who “acquires” and “distributes” his “drugs and guns.”
Despite the arrest, he did not appear to be connected to the “I’ll Be Missing You” artist, 54.
Attorney Bieber said in a statement to PEOPLE on March 27, “We do not plan on trying this case in the media — all issues will be dealt with in court.”
The Miami-Dade police department had no comment on the matter.
In April, Paul was charged with felony cocaine possession. However, according to court documents, Paul’s additional felony charge for marijuana-laced candy were dropped.
PEOPLE confirmed that Bieber entered a plea of not guilty in a “very brief” hearing at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building in Miami, Fla. on behalf of Paul on April 24.
“We will be dealing with this case in the courtroom, not the court of public opinion,” the lawyer said in a statement to PEOPLE.
At the time, a hearing was scheduled for Friday, May 17. Now, it has been canceled.
