Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs acquitted of sex trafficking, convicted on lesser charges

A federal jury in Manhattan has acquitted American music executive Sean Combs of sex trafficking and racketeering but found him guilty of two lesser charges related to transporting individuals across state lines for prostitution.

The verdict was delivered on Wednesday after nearly two months of testimony and days of jury deliberations, as the 55-year-old producer and businessman, popularly known as “Diddy”, now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison—10 years for each of the two transportation charges. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

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The trial entailed serious accusations brought forward by two women, one publicly identified as singer Casandra Ventura, and the other known only as “Jane” with prosecutors alleging that Combs used manipulation, fear, and financial control to coerce the women into participating in sex acts with male prostitutes, often while he watched and filmed the encounters.

They claimed these acts were facilitated by a network of loyal employees who followed Combs’ instructions without question.

In their closing argument, federal prosecutors described Combs as the leader of a “criminal enterprise” that used power and intimidation for personal gratification. “He used violence, he used money, he used fear, and he got what he wanted, every single time.”

However, the jury did not fully agree with the government’s case, as evident in a note they sent to the judge on Tuesday, stating how stalemated they were on the racketeering charge, saying that there were “unpersuadable opinions on both sides.” As a result, Combs was cleared of that charge, along with the more serious charge of sex trafficking, which carried a potential sentence of 15 years to life.

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Combs’s defence team admitted that their client had a history of drug use and domestic violence but argued that the government had overreached by framing him as a sex trafficker and criminal mastermind.

“This was not a criminal enterprise; the prosecution built a case on exaggeration and weak evidence,” a defence attorney said.

The outcome avoids the harshest penalties for Combs, who was at risk of spending the rest of his life behind bars. Still, the conviction on two felony counts means his legal troubles are far from over as he remains under scrutiny in other civil lawsuits and public investigations stemming from similar allegations.