P Diddy has been found guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution following an eight-week trial – but has been cleared of the most serious charges he faced.
The jury considered charges that Diddy, real name Sean Combs, had trafficked his victims for sex, ran a racketeering conspiracy and transported victims across state lines to engage in prostitution. Diddy’s trial lasted a gruelling eight weeks with a number of witnesses called to present accounts of how he allegedly used violence, fear and drugs against women.
The 12-person jury in a Manhattan federal courtroom delivered the verdict, finding the 55-year-old billionaire guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Diddy was however cleared of two counts of sex trafficking and one count racketeering conspiracy in a mixed verdict. Combs now faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
(Image: AP)
Judge Arun Subramanian told the jurors that press are likely to speak to them about the case and told them: “There is an important reason to respect the privacy of your deliberations. That being said, the choice of whether to speak to others about the case and your personal views is up to you.”
He also thanked them for their “tremendous sacrifice” and told the jury: “I want you to know that it is inspiring to all of us. You listened, you worked together, you were here every day, rain or shine. You did so with no reward, other than the reward that comes from answering the call of public service. That should give all of us hope.”
Combs once ruled the music world with Bad Boy Records and built his own empire which included a fashion brand, television shows, and alcohol.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Throughout the trial, prosecutors portrayed Combs as the manipulative and violent head of a criminal enterprise who used his power and his industry clout to trap and exploit young women. “You’ve learned a lot about Sean Combs,” Assistant US Attorney Christy Slavik told jurors during closing arguments. “He’s the leader of a criminal enterprise. He doesn’t take no for an answer.”
For four hours, Ms Slavik described the evidence: testimony from victims, videos, text messages, and financial records that, prosecutors claimed, revealed how Combs ran a network of enablers who helped him carry out a campaign of sexual coercion.
To try and prove the racketeering charge, Ms Slavik reminded the jury they only needed to find that Combs had committed two crimes through his alleged enterprise. “He committed hundreds,” she said.
(Image: Getty Images)
Among the charges were drug trafficking, where Combs’ employees allegedly supplied cocaine, ecstasy, and other substances to him and his guests, and arson, after prosecutors alleged he had orchestrated the firebombing of rapper Kid Cudi’s car in an act of revenge.
But the “brutal crimes at the heart of the case,” Ms Slavik said, were those of sex trafficking. She focused the jury’s attention on the harrowing testimonies of Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, Combs’ longtime partner, and another victim referred to only as “Jane.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Both women described being coerced into so-called “freak-offs” – forced sex acts with male escorts arranged by Combs while he watched and recorded them. The rapper’s abuse of Ms Ventura was “constant and controlling,” Slavik claimed. During the trial, Ventura described to jurors how her then-boyfriend “would smash me in my head, drag me, kick me, stomp me in the head if I was down”.
Describing their time together, the 38-year-old claimed her former boyfriend subjected her to repeated physical violence. “He would smash me in my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me, stomp me in the head if I was down,” she testified. When asked how often the incidents occurred, she replied: “Too frequently.” Ventura recounted injuries, including welts on her forehead, bruises, and busted lips.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
