Defense attorney on what prosecutors have to prove in Sean ‘Diddy' Combs' trial
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Forbes
25 minutes ago
- Forbes
Making Sense Of The Sean Diddy Combs Verdict
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 2: People react outside federal court as verdicts are announced during ... More Sean Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering trial at Manhattan Federal Court on July 2, 2025 in New York City. Combs has been acquitted of the most serious charges in his case, but was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. (Photo by Eduardo) After 28 days of testimony, 2 days of closing arguments and 12 hours of jury deliberation, Sean Diddy Combs was found guilty of one count of transporting individuals including but not limited to his former girlfriend Casandra Ventura to engage in prostitution and one count of transporting individuals including but not limited to another former girlfriend who testified under the pseudonym 'Jane." Each of those charges carry a maximum 10-year prison sentence. However, he was found not guilty of the three most serious charges, namely sex-trafficking by force, fraud or coercion of Casandra Ventura; sex-trafficking by force, fraud or coercion of 'Jane' and the RICO racketeering conspiracy charge which was the bulwark of the entire case. Had he been found guilty of the RICO charge he faced a potential life sentence in prison. The two charges of which he was convicted applied to flying people including Cassandra Ventura and 'Jane' along with paid male sex workers around the country to engage in extreme sexual encounters referred to in court as 'freak-offs.' In regard to the sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion charges, the jury may have considered that Cassie Ventura had been in an 11 year relationship with Combs during the time of the freak-offs and 'Jane' had been in a 3 year relationship with Combs while participating in the freak offs. Being in such long-standing relationships could have been considered by the jury to be an indication of consent. Additionally, numerous text messages from both women were entered into evidence indicating enthusiasm for participating in the freak-offs including one from Ventura that read 'Baby. I want to FO sooooo bad.' FO being the abbreviation for freak-off. But what is the RICO law and how has it evolved? The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) is Title IX of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 and was enacted as a tool to fight organized crime. RICO lists four types of prohibited conduct: An enterprise is defined as 'any individual, partnership, corporation, association or other legal entity and any union or group of people associated in fact although not a legal entity.' The original intention of the law was to target organized crime, such as the Mafia, enabling prosecutors to target the leaders of these groups even if they were not personally present when the crimes were committed. Prior to RICO, while law enforcement may have been able to convict lower-level members of organized crime groups they had difficulty getting convictions against the leaders of such groups. Under RICO, it was no longer necessary to prove that someone personally committed a particular crime, but rather merely that the defendant controlled or managed an enterprise that committed specific crimes referred to as predicate acts. A pattern of racketeering activity requires at least two acts within ten years. In Combs' case, the prosecution alleged kidnapping, arson, forced labor, bribery and sex trafficking as the predicate acts constituting racketeering activity. The first Mafia crime boss to be convicted under RICO was Genovese crime family leader Frank Tieri in 1980. However, over time the law's use has been expanded to include convictions of: RICO charges similar to those brought against Combs had been previously brought against R&B singer R. Kelly who was convicted in 2021 of RICO racketeering and sex trafficking charges leading some people to believe that Combs would also have been convicted of violating RICO. In fact, the day before issuing its verdict, the jury indicated to the judge that it was deadlocked on this critical charge while agreeing on the other four counts. The significant difference between the cases against Kelly and Combs however was that Kelly was convicted of recruiting underage girls for sexual exploitation who were legally incapable of giving consent, making the case against Kelly much easier to prove.
Associated Press
26 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' lawyers say he is a changed man. Will that spare him from more time behind bars?
NEW YORK (AP) — In rejecting Sean 'Diddy' Combs' release on bail, a federal judge confronted the hip-hop impresario with a disturbing aspect of his criminal case that his lawyers couldn't deny: his history of violence. Combs' defense lawyers claimed he is a changed man. But Judge Arun Subramanian on Wednesday let the Bad Boy Records founder know that his hopes for freedom soon are slim — even after the jury acquitted him on racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges that could have put him in prison for life. Subramanian's words signaled how he may approach sentencing Combs for his convictions on two lesser prostitution-related charges, which each carry a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison. The judge, citing a now-infamous video of Combs beating a former girlfriend and photographs showing injuries to another ex-girlfriend, made clear that he plans to hold Combs accountable for the years of violence and bullying behavior that were exposed at his eight-week trial. Combs' punishment is Subramanian's decision alone, and the judge will have wide latitude in determining a sentence. While judges often adhere to the federal judiciary's formulaic guidelines meant to prevent disparity in sentences for the same crimes, they are not mandatory. Combs' lawyers want less than the 21 to 27 months in prison that they believe the sentencing guidelines recommend. Prosecutors contend that the guidelines, when properly calculated to include Combs' crimes and violent history, call for at least four to five years in prison. After tentatively setting Combs' sentencing for October, the judge said he is open to a defense request that it happen as soon as possible, with further discussions expected at a conference Tuesday. Combs' violent past keeps him locked up for now Combs, his family and his defense team were overjoyed by the verdict, some of them tearing up at the result. Combs pumped his fist in celebration and mouthed 'thank you' to jurors. He hugged his lawyers and, after the jury exited, fell to his knees in prayer. But, by the end of the day, Combs was deflated — his dream of going home after more than nine months in jail thwarted by a judge throwing his own lawyers' words back in their faces. 'We own the domestic violence. We own it,' Subramanian said, reading from a transcript of Combs lawyer Marc Agnifilo's closing argument to the jury last week. 'If he was charged with domestic violence, we wouldn't all be here having a trial, because he would have pled guilty, because he did that.' The judge noted the jury had seen a video of Combs viciously attacking then-girlfriend Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel in March 2016. He also noted that another former Combs' girlfriend — a woman who testified under the pseudonym 'Jane' — was left with visible evidence of bruises and injuries after Combs hit her repeatedly in June 2024. That was a few months after federal agents raided two of his homes and 'when he should have known that he needed to stay clean.' The judge said that the beating, which Jane said happened before Combs forced her to have a sexual encounter with a male sex worker, was part of the prostitution-related offenses — violations of the federal Mann Act — that resulted in a conviction. 'This highlights a disregard for the rule of law and the propensity for violence,' he said. Combs is 'working on himself,' lawyer says Agnifilo, who had asked the judge to release Combs on a $1 million bond, insisted to Subramanian that Combs had changed dramatically in the last year. As he pleaded with the judge, Combs sat by his side and scribbled notes on small pieces of paper, occasionally handing them to the lawyer. The attorney said Jane had written a supportive note to get Combs into a domestic violence intervention program. At sentencing, he said, the defense plans to have someone from the program tell the judge how Combs did. 'He is a man who's in the process of working on himself,' the lawyer said. 'He's been a model prisoner.' Agnifilo said Combs had 'been given his life back' by the jury and 'would be nothing short of a fool' to do anything to spoil that. The prospect of a life sentence, the maximum if Combs were convicted of racketeering or sex trafficking, prompted 'all sorts of the darkest conversations one can imagine about what your life could have been and what your life became,' Agnifilo said. But Subramanian was unmoved by what Agnifilo called his 'heart strings' argument. 'Having conceded the defendant's propensity for violence in this way, it is impossible for the defendant to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that he poses no danger to any other person or the community,' the judge said. Prosecutors also want violence factored into sentencing Agnifilo indicated the defense will argue at sentencing that Combs' violent acts are not part of the charges for which he was convicted and shouldn't factor into his punishment. Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey made it clear that prosecutors will argue the opposite. Combs is 'an extremely violent man with an extraordinarily dangerous temper,' Comey told the judge Wednesday. He 'has shown no remorse and no regret for his violence toward multiple victims.' Subramanian noted that Combs will be credited for the time he has already served. But by rejecting bail, the judge indicated that he will likely reject a defense request for Combs to be freed in the next year. Witnesses implore judge to keep Combs locked up Deonte Nash, a former stylist for Combs and Cassie who reluctantly testified during the trial, told the judge in a letter that bail would 'send a dangerous message: that wealth and influence can shield someone indefinitely from accountability.' Cassie, through her lawyer, also encouraged Subramanian to keep Combs in jail. 'Ms. Ventura believes that Mr. Combs is likely to pose a danger to the victims who testified in this case, including herself, as well as to the community,' Cassie's lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, wrote.
Bloomberg
26 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Mexican Boxer Chávez Jr. Arrested by ICE, Faces Deportation
Prominent Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. was arrested by US immigration authorities this week and faces swift deportation to Mexico, the Department of Homeland Security said. Chávez Jr., a Mexican national and son of famed boxer Julio César Chávez, was arrested Wednesday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Studio City, just outside Los Angeles, DHS said Thursday.
