Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transportation to engage in prostitution; nevertheless, the jury has finally returned a verdict in his trial.
The 55-year-old, who was a rap mogul in his day, had been in federal detention at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Centre since September 2024 and had been on trial for about two months.
He refuted every accusation against him.
The jury began deliberations on June 30 after the prosecution and defence teams’ closing arguments last week. They were asked to determine whether Combs had true intent despite his intoxication or if he was too drunk to have committed his offences on purpose.
Combs was found guilty on two counts of transporting someone to engage in prostitution when they reached their conclusion. However, he was found not guilty of one count of racketeering conspiracy and two charges of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion.
What was Diddy accused of?
In addition to two accusations of sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, Combs was also charged with racketeering conspiracy.
Allegations of kidnapping, drugging, and forcing women into sexual acts (sometimes with the use of violence and firearms) were all included in the racketeering conspiracy framework.
The five counts were as follows in full:
- Count 1: Conspiracy of racketeering
- Victim 1 (Cassie) is covered by Count 2: Forced, fraudulent, or coerced sex trafficking.
- Count 3: Transportation for prostitution: This includes commercial sex workers and Victim 1 (Cassie).
- Victim 2 (“Jane”) is covered by Count 4: Forced, fraudulent, or coerced sex trafficking.
- Count 5: Transportation for prostitution: This includes commercial sex workers and Victim 2 (“Jane”).
He was judged not guilty of the other counts but guilty of counts three and five.
When was Diddy arrested?
Following a grand jury indictment, Combs was taken into custody on September 16, 2024, at the Park Hyatt hotel in Manhattan.
According to his attorney Marc Agnifilo, the music producer freely moved to the Big Apple ahead of the concert and cooperated with the police.
At the time, Agnifilo stated, “These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
The testimonies
Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura talked extensively about the music mogul’s drug-fueled orgies at “freak off” parties. Combs was allegedly coerced into having sex with male prostitutes while sitting and masturbating in the corner of the room.
Combs’s ex-personal assistant Capricorn Clark testified that her envious boss ‘came at’ Cassie with ‘100% full force’ following an alleged altercation at rapper Kid Cudi’s house, where he was allegedly seeing Cassie. She repeatedly kicked her while she knelt in the foetal position and’silently’ complained.
‘The Punisher’ (real name Sharay Hayes), a male escort, took the evidence in the meantime and described the numerous interactions he allegedly had with Cassie and the defendant.
They also discovered 900 bottles of Astroglide and ‘hundreds’ of bottles of baby oil and lubricant when the police investigated Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles.
Along with a stash of firearms that he used to force his victims, including pump shotguns, pistols, and AR-15 style rifles, bags carrying drugs—later determined to be ketamine—were also photographed as evidence.
What did the defense close out with?
During the closing argument, Combs’s lead attorney, Agnifilo, called the accusations against his client “badly exaggerated.”
Combs had ‘taken care of people’, he said, including Jane, his ex-partner, who had testified under a false identity.
Agnifilo remarked, “I don’t know what Jane is doing today, but she’s doing it in a house he’s paying for,” implying that Combs was covering her rent and legal fees.
“This isn’t about crime. It’s about money. This is about money,” he added, before telling the various jurors to ‘call this as you see it’ and ‘acquit Sean Combs of all the counts’.
The defence team’s final remarks took place over five hours on June 27, while their case rested under thirty minutes on June 24.
