Sean Combs discovered responsible on two counts, however acquitted on most severe fees : NPR

This report contains mentions of bodily and sexual violence.

A federal jury in Manhattan has discovered Sean Combs, the hip-hop mogul often known as Diddy or Puff Daddy, responsible on two counts of transportation to have interaction in prostitution. He was discovered not responsible of 1 rely of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of intercourse trafficking.

The jury deliberated for 13 hours earlier than asserting their cut up resolution after the trial that started on Could 5.

Prosecutors within the Southern District of New York weren’t in a position to efficiently argue to the jury that their two prime witnesses, Combs’ ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and one other former girlfriend who testified beneath the pseudonym “Jane,” had not participated consensually within the intercourse and drug marathons that Combs variously known as “freak offs,” “lodge nights” or “wild king nights.”

Combs didn’t take the stand in his personal protection, nor did his group of legal professionals current any witnesses. As an alternative, they pointed to lots of of texts and social media posts by which Ventura and Jane typically expressed enthusiasm for these periods, regardless of the ladies later saying on the stand that they felt pressed and manipulated into planning and taking part in them. These relationships, the protection group argued, had been poisonous and maybe abusive, however failed to fulfill the federal government’s requirements of federal criminality.

The prosecution was additionally unable to show to the 12-person jury that Combs had run a legal conspiracy or an organized crime syndicate inside the racketeering cost. They’d accused Combs of a number of associated crimes inside this cost, together with pressured labor, bribery and obstruction of justice.. Lately, federal prosecutors have utilized racketeering (often known as RICO) fees fairly broadly – and in sure high-profile instances in opposition to well-known hip-hop artists in addition to within the extremely publicized trial of R&B R. Kelly, who was discovered responsible of RICO and intercourse trafficking in 2021. However the authorities legal professionals had been unsuccessful on this occasion.

A racketeering conviction would have carried essentially the most severe potential incarceration time for Combs, with a most sentence of as much as life in jail. Convictions for the counts of intercourse trafficking by drive, fraud or coercion – one for Ventura, and one for Jane – would have every carried a statutory minimal sentence of 15 years and as much as life in jail.

The 2 counts of transportation to have interaction in prostitution — one concerning Ventura and male intercourse staff, and one concerning Jane and male intercourse staff — every carry a most sentence of 10 years.

Exterior of this federal legal trial, Combs continues to face dozens of civil lawsuits introduced by former staff and associates. Ventura, who introduced a civil swimsuit in opposition to Combs in Nov. 2023, settled inside in the future for $20 million. As a part of that settlement, Combs didn’t acknowledge any wrongdoing.

In his skilled heyday, Combs, who has received three Grammy Awards, was on the forefront of bringing hip-hop to a mainstream pop viewers – and made himself the face of the label he co-owned, Unhealthy Boy Information. He additionally constructed an empire of associated companies, together with the Sean John trend firm, a profitable promotional partnership with the alcohol big Diageo, and a media enterprise that included the once-popular VH1 actuality present “Making The Band,” which featured him as an impossibly demanding boss who incessantly demeaned aspiring staff.