After three days of deliberation, jurors in the Sean ‘P Diddy‘ Combs trial have reached a final verdict on all five charges including; racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs, 55, pleaded not guilty to all five charges.
A 12 person jury, made up of eight men and four women, agreed on all five of the charges brought against the disgraced media mogul in the federal indictment, despite being asked by the judge to continue deliberations after “unpersuadable opinions on both sides” prevented them from doing so previously.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has been acquitted of the most serious of charges; racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. But the jury has found him guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Upon hearing the verdict, per CNN, Combs “faced the gallery and clapped, prompting the gallery to clap and cheer.”
- On one count of racketeering conspiracy
Verdict: Not Guilty
- On two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion
Verdict: Not Guilty
- On two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution
Verdict: Guilty
The Jurors Split Verdict
The verdict means that Combs has avoided a 15-year mandatory sentence and skirted the chance of life in prison for the significant charges. However, he still faces a maximum of 10 years in prison on each of the two counts he was found guilty on – which equates to a total possibility of 20 years behind bars.
Combs is currently awaiting sentencing, with a date yet to be set.
What Happens To Diddy Now?
The Judge has denied bail for Combs as he awaits sentencing.
Citing Combs’ history of domestic violence, the judge has ordered him to remain in detention until the hearing, which could, per NYT court reporters, be in October.
Despite the judge’s ruling, Marc Agnifilio, Combs’ lawyer, attempted to argue for his client’s freedom, calling Combs a “model prisoner” with “children who have been without a parent.”
“This is such an unusual, I mean an exceptional, set of circumstances that the user of prostitution services has been convicted of the Mann Act,” Marc Agnifilo said.
In response, prosecutor Maurene Comey reiterated that someone convicted of the Mann Act should be detained, stating the only things exceptional about Combs, are “his wealth, his violence and his brazenness.”
“There is nothing exceptional about this case except for his continued criminality.”
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What Was Diddy Charged With?
The verdict comes after a seven-week trial in which the courtroom heard from 34 key witnesses, including ex-partners, federal agents, former employees and male escorts. But the star witness central to the federal prosecutor’s case was undoubtedly Cassie Ventura.
During her brave testimony, Ventura outlined how she, then-19, first met Combs, then-37, as an aspiring artist before they entered into a romantic relationship – one that prosecutors alleged, resulted in over a decade of control, coercion and devastating trauma. Combs did not testify.
As such, details about what occurred during her 11-year, on-and-off relationship with Combs were considered essential to determining the federal prosecutors’ case and charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Throughout the trial, prosecutors presented a convincing case against Combs by alleging he used his significant power and influence to coerce women into abusive and exploitative sex parties known as “freak-offs“, often involving male sex workers.
Claiming Combs used drugs, alcohol and intimidation tactics like blackmail and violence to silence his victims, aided and abetted by an inner circle that “carefully cultivated and guarded his reputation,” the prosecutors outlined how Combs used this protective shield to commit “crime after crime.”
“He’s the leader of a criminal enterprise. He doesn’t take no for an answer,” assistant US attorney Christy Slavik said in her closing arguments last Thursday.
Why Was Diddy Charged With Racketeering Conspiracy?
Undoubtedly the most serious of the charges, it was also the hardest to prove.
Racketeering conspiracy was brought against Combs as a way of combining related offences that would otherwise have had to be prosecuted separately in different state, per the US Department of Justice website.
Simply put, it allowed prosecutors to utilise evidence they might not have been able to include, if they chose to just pursue sex trafficking charges.
“RICO allows you to bring in the bigger picture,” former US prosecutor Bobby Taghavi told ABC. “[That includes] his lifestyle, his power, his anger issues, the way people had to obey him — the 360-degree view of his conduct.”
In order to prove the charge, prosecutors had to provide evidence that spoke to a pattern of racketeering activity – which, in the context of this case, included kidnapping, arson, bribery and sex trafficking.
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