Combs was
convicted of transportation to engage in prostitution but acquitted of
racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking, a partial win for
the former billionaire known for elevating hip-hop in American culture.
After the jury
read its verdict, defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo asked Subramanian to release
Combs on bail.
“This is his
first conviction and it’s a prostitution offense, and so he should be released
on appropriate conditions,” Agnifilo said.
Combs faces a maximum 10-year prison sentence on each of the two prostitution counts. U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian will determine Combs’ sentence at a later date.
The acquittals
on the sex trafficking counts means he will avoid a 15-year mandatory minimum
sentence. He could have faced life in prison if he were convicted on sex
trafficking or racketeering conspiracy.
Prosecutors say
Combs for two decades used his business empire to force two of his romantic
partners to take part in drug-fueled, days-long sexual performances sometimes
known as “Freak Offs” with male sex workers in hotel rooms while Combs watched,
masturbated and occasionally filmed.
During raids of
Combs’ homes, authorities found drugs and 1 000 bottles of baby oil and
lubricant that he would use in the performances, prosecutors said.
Combs, 55, had
pleaded not guilty to all five counts. His lawyers acknowledged that the Bad
Boy Records founder, once famed for hosting lavish parties for the cultural
elite in luxurious locales like the Hamptons and Saint-Tropez, was at times
violent in his domestic relationships. But they said the sexual activity
described by prosecutors was consensual.
The seven-week
trial in Manhattan federal court exposed the inner workings of Combs’ business
empire and gave the 12-member jury an intimate look into his volatile romantic
relationships with the rhythm and blues singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and a
woman known in court by the pseudonym Jane.
Ventura sued
Combs in November 2023 for sex trafficking, the first of dozens of civil
lawsuits accusing him of abuse. Combs, also known throughout his career as Puff
Daddy and P. Diddy and once 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 saw surveillance footage from 2016 showing Combs kicking and dragging
Ventura in the hallway of an InterContinental hotel in Los Angeles, where she
said she was trying to leave a “Freak Off.”
Jane later
testified that Combs in June 2024 attacked her and directed her to perform oral
sex on a male entertainer, even though she told him she did not want to. That
alleged attack took place a month after Combs apologized on social media for
his 2016 attack of Ventura, footage of which had been broadcast on CNN.
According to
prosecutors, physical violence was just one way Combs compelled Ventura and
Jane to take part in the performances – an act of coercion they say amounts to
sex trafficking because the male escorts were paid.
Both women
testified that he threatened to withhold financial support and to leak sexually
explicit images of them if they refused to comply.
“The defendant
used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted,” prosecutor Christy Slavik
said in her closing argument on June 26. “He doesn’t take no for an answer.”
Combs’ defense
lawyers argued that while Combs may have committed domestic violence in the
context of volatile romantic partnerships, his conduct did not amount to sex
trafficking.
They argued
that Ventura and Jane were strong, independent women who voluntarily took part
in the sexual performances because they wanted to please Combs.
Both women
testified they spent time with Combs and took part in sexual performances after
he beat them. Defense lawyers argued that Ventura and Jane were retrospectively
accusing Combs of forcing their participation in the performances because they
were jealous he was seeing other women.
“If he was charged with domestic violence, we wouldn’t all be here,” Combs’ defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo said in his closing argument on June 27. “He did not do the things he’s charged with.”
Besides Ventura
and Jane, jurors also heard testimony from Combs’ former personal assistants
who said their jobs included setting up hotel rooms for “Freak Offs” and buying
their boss drugs.
An
InterContinental security guard testified that Combs, in the presence of his
chief of staff, paid him $100 000 to hand over what he thought was the only
copy of the surveillance tape of his attack on Ventura.
And Scott
Mescudi, the rapper known as Kid Cudi, told jurors Combs was likely involved in
an arson on his car after Combs found out he was romantically involved with
Ventura.
According to
prosecutors, those were all acts Combs and his associates undertook in
furtherance of a racketeering conspiracy whose aim was, in part, to facilitate
his abuse and keep evidence of his wrongdoing under wraps.
The defense
argued Combs was a successful entrepreneur who used drugs recreationally but
kept his professional and personal lives separate.
Combs has been
held in federal lockup in Brooklyn since his September 2024 arrest.
Reuters
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