Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs discovered responsible of participating in prostitution, cleared of intercourse trafficking and different severe fees

Combs was convicted of transportation to have interaction in prostitution however acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of intercourse trafficking, a partial win for the previous billionaire recognized for elevating hip-hop in American tradition. 

Prosecutors say Combs for twenty years used his enterprise empire to drive two of his romantic companions to participate in drug-fueled, days-long sexual performances typically often called “Freak Offs” with male intercourse employees in lodge rooms whereas Combs watched, masturbated and sometimes filmed. 

During raids of Combs’ houses, authorities discovered medication and 1,000 bottles of child oil and lubricant that he would use within the performances, prosecutors stated.

Combs, 55, had pleaded not responsible to all 5 counts. His legal professionals acknowledged that the #Bad Boy Records founder, as soon as famed for internet hosting lavish events for the cultural elite in luxurious locales just like the Hamptons and #Saint-Tropez, was at occasions violent in his home relationships. But they stated the sexual exercise described by prosecutors was consensual.  

The seven-week trial in Manhattan federal court docket uncovered the internal workings of Combs’ enterprise empire and gave the 12-member jury an intimate look into his unstable romantic relationships with the rhythm and blues singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and a girl recognized in court docket by the pseudonym Jane. 

  Ventura sued Combs in November 2023 for intercourse trafficking, the primary of dozens of civil lawsuits accusing him of abuse. Combs, additionally recognized all through his profession as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy and as soon as feted for turning artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars, settled with Ventura for $20 million. He has denied all wrongdoing. 

At the trial, jurors noticed surveillance footage from 2016 displaying Combs kicking and dragging Ventura within the hallway of an InterContinental lodge in #Los Angeles, the place she stated she was making an attempt to go away a “Freak Off.”

Jane later testified that Combs in June 2024 attacked her and directed her to carry out oral intercourse on a male entertainer, regardless that she informed him she didn’t wish to. That alleged assault passed off a month after Combs apologized on social media for his 2016 assault of Ventura, footage of which had been broadcast on CNN. 

According to prosecutors, bodily violence was only one method Combs compelled Ventura and Jane to participate within the performances – an act of coercion they are saying quantities to intercourse trafficking as a result of the male escorts have been paid.

Both girls testified that he threatened to withhold monetary assist and to leak sexually express pictures of them in the event that they refused to conform. 

“The defendant used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted,” prosecutor Christy Slavik stated in her closing argument on June 26. “He doesn’t take no for an answer.”

Combs’ protection legal professionals argued that whereas Combs might have dedicated home violence within the context of unstable romantic partnerships, his conduct didn’t quantity to intercourse trafficking. 

They argued that Ventura and Jane have been sturdy, unbiased girls who voluntarily took half within the sexual performances as a result of they wished to please Combs. 

Both girls testified they frolicked with Combs and took half in sexual performances after he beat them. Defense legal professionals argued that Ventura and Jane have been retrospectively accusing Combs of forcing their participation within the performances as a result of they have been jealous he was seeing different girls. 

“If he was charged with domestic violence, we wouldn’t all be here,” Combs’ protection lawyer Marc Agnifilo stated in his closing argument on June 27. “He did not do the things he’s charged with.”

RACKETEERING CONSPIRACY 

Besides Ventura and Jane, jurors additionally heard testimony from Combs’ former private assistants who stated their jobs included organising lodge rooms for “Freak Offs” and shopping for their boss medication. 

An InterContinental safety guard testified that Combs, within the presence of his chief of employees, paid him $100,000 handy over what he thought was the one copy of the surveillance tape of his assault on Ventura.

And Scott Mescudi, the rapper often called Kid Cudi, informed jurors Combs was probably concerned in an arson on his automotive after Combs discovered he was romantically concerned with Ventura. 

According to prosecutors, these have been all acts Combs and his associates undertook in furtherance of a racketeering conspiracy whose purpose was, partly, to facilitate his abuse and hold proof of his wrongdoing underneath wraps. 

The protection argued Combs was a profitable entrepreneur who used medication recreationally, however saved his skilled and private lives separate. 

Combs has been held in federal lockup in Brooklyn since his September 2024 arrest.