Prosecutors had asked a jury to find Sean “Diddy” Combs guilty of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, but he was dismissed from more serious counts after being found guilty on Wednesday of prostitution-related offenses.
Combs was found guilty of transporting people to engage in prostitution, but he was exonerated of two charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
Combs knelt before his chair and seemed to pray when the judge dismissed the jury and the attorneys for both sides. Then Combs stood up and turned to the gallery of the courtroom.
He smiled and clasped his hands, saying, “I’ll be home soon.” “I cherish you. I love you, thank you.
Cheers and applause broke out from Combs’ family and fans.
Since his arrest in September 2024, Combs has been detained in federal jail in Brooklyn.
Combs’ supporters chanted “love, love, love” as Combs’ family departed the courthouse.
Combs used the stage names Love, Puff Daddy, and P. Diddy during his career.
Prosecutors claimed that Combs used his business empire to coerce two of his romantic partners into participating in drug-fueled, daylong “Freak Offs” with male sex workers in hotel rooms for twenty years, while Combs watched, masturbated, and occasionally recorded the events.
TRIAL FOR SEVEN WEEKS
Prosecutors said he would use the 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant they discovered during searches of his properties during the seven-week trial in Manhattan federal court.
Two of Combs’ ex-girlfriends, rhythm and blues performer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and a woman who went by the pseudonym Jane in court, also testified that Combs abused them and coerced them into performing.
Combs, 55, entered a not guilty plea to each of the five charges. His attorneys admitted that the founder of Bad Boy Records, who was formerly well-known for throwing extravagant parties for the social elite in opulent places like the Hamptons and Saint-Tropez, occasionally engaged in violent marital relationships.
However, they claimed that the prosecutors’ account of the sexual conduct was consensual and said that the prosecution was attempting to criminalize Combs’ private sexual life.
They maintained that Jane and Ventura were strong, self-reliant women who willingly participated in the sex acts in order to get Combs’ approval.
After Combs beat them, both women stated that they spent time with him and engaged in sexual activities. Ventura and Jane, according to the defense attorneys, were accusing Combs of pressuring them to perform in the shows because they were envious that he was dating other women.
“If he was charged with domestic violence, we wouldn’t all be here,” Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ defense attorney, stated during his closing argument on 23 June. “He did not do the things he’s charged with.”
COMBS USED “VIOLENCE AND FEAR,” PROSECUTORS SAID
Combs was found guilty of transporting Ventura and Jane to engage in prostitution. Prosecutors had to demonstrate that Combs arranged for the male escorts’ cross-state trip and paid them for sex in order to be charged.
Because Combs used physical force and threats of financial deprivation or the release of sexually graphic photos of Ventura and Jane to force them to participate in the acts, prosecutors had claimed that Combs’ actions against both women constituted to sex trafficking.
During her closing argument on June 26, prosecutor Christy Slavik stated, “The defendant used power, violence, and fear to get what he wanted.” “He doesn’t take no for an answer.”
Surveillance footage from 2016 was shown to jurors during the trial. It showed Combs kicking and dragging Ventura along the corridor of an InterContinental hotel in Los Angeles, during which she claimed to be attempting to escape a “Freak Off.”
According to Jane’s later testimony, Combs assaulted her in June 2024 and ordered her to have oral sex with a male entertainer despite her protests. The purported assault occurred one month after Combs issued a social media apology for his 2016 assault on Ventura, which CNN had aired.
Additionally, prosecutors contended that Combs and his colleagues committed crimes to enable his abuse and conceal evidence of his wrongdoing, making him guilty of racketeering conspiracy.
Combs, according to the defense, was a prosperous businessman who kept his personal and professional lives apart while using drugs recreationally.
Combs has more legal issues than just the criminal trial. In November 2023, Ventura filed the first of scores of civil cases alleging abuse against Combs, alleging sex trafficking. Combs, who was once praised for making musicians like Usher and Notorious B.I.G. famous, reached a $20 million settlement with Ventura. He has denied any misconduct.
“Although the jury did not find Combs guilty of sex trafficking Cassie beyond a reasonable doubt, she paved the way for a jury to find him guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution,” attorney Douglas Wigdor, who represents Ventura, said in a statement following the verdict.
