A federal jury in Manhattan found Sean Combs, the hip-hop mogul also known as Diddy or Puff Daddy, guilty on two counts of transportation for purposes of prostitution. He was found not guilty on one count of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking.
The jury deliberated for 13 hours before announcing its split decision after the trial that began on May 5.
Prosecutors from the Southern District of New York failed to successfully argue to the jury that its two main witnesses, Combs’ ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and another ex-girlfriend who testified under the pseudonym “Jane,” had not consensually participated in the sex and drug marathons that Combs variously called “freak offs,” “hotel nights,” or “wild king nights.”
Combs did not testify in his own defense, nor did his team of lawyers present witnesses. Instead, they pointed to hundreds of text messages and social media posts in which Ventura and Jane frequently expressed enthusiasm for these sessions, even though the women later testified that they felt pressured and manipulated into planning and participating in them. Those relationships, the defense argued, were toxic and perhaps abusive, but did not meet the government’s standards for federal criminality.
The prosecution also failed to prove to the 12-person jury that Combs ran a criminal conspiracy or criminal enterprise under the racketeering charge. They accused him of several related crimes in that charge, including forced labor, bribery, and obstruction of justice. In recent years, federal prosecutors have applied racketeering charges (also known as RICO) quite broadly — and in certain high-profile cases against well-known hip-hop artists, as well as in the widely publicized trial of R&B singer R. Kelly, who was found guilty of RICO and sex trafficking in 2021. But the government’s lawyers did not succeed this time.
A racketeering conviction would have carried the potential for the most severe prison time for Combs, with a maximum sentence of life in prison. Convictions on the sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion counts — one for Ventura and one for Jane — would each have carried a legal minimum sentence of 15 years and up to life in prison.
The two counts of transportation for purposes of prostitution — one involving Ventura and male sex workers, and one involving Jane and male sex workers — each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Outside this federal criminal trial, Combs continues to face dozens of civil lawsuits filed by former employees and associates. Ventura, who filed a civil suit against Combs in November 2023, reached a settlement in one day for $20 million. As part of that settlement, Combs admitted no wrongdoing.
At the peak of his professional career, Combs, who won three Grammy Awards, was at the forefront of introducing hip-hop to the pop mainstream audience — and became the face of the label he co-founded, Bad Boy Records. He also built a related business empire, including the Sean John fashion company, a lucrative promotional partnership with beverage giant Diageo, and a media business that included the popular VH1 reality show “Making The Band,” in which he appeared as an impossibly demanding boss who frequently humiliated aspiring employees.
Source: npr.org by Anastasia Tsioulcas