Sean Combs found guilty of prostitution transportation; acquitted on all other counts
Washington Post staff
A jury found Sean “Diddy” Combs not guilty of the most serious charges against him Wednesday morning – sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy – but found him guilty of two prostitution-related charges that each carry a maximum 10-year sentence.
On Tuesday, the jurors reached a decision on all counts except racketeering conspiracy and were ordered to resume deliberations. They reached unanimity shortly after resuming discussions on Wednesday.
The trial revolved around accusations that Combs abused two girlfriends for years at drug-fueled “freak-off” parties, forcing or compelling the women to have sex with male escorts and other men while he directed, filmed and masturbated. Prosecutors spent more than six weeks calling witnesses to support the accusations, including the main alleged victims: Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and a woman who testified under the alias “Jane” to protect her privacy. Ventura claimed Combs raped her and regularly beat her during their 11-year relationship, including when she objected to performing in freak-offs. Jane, who dated Combs several years after Ventura, said she lived at the producer’s beck and call, unable to extricate herself from the sex parties after she became financially and emotionally dependent on him.
Combs has been jailed without bail since his arrest in September. His attorneys contend both women consented to and even enjoyed a “swinger” sexual lifestyle and were motivated to make false accusations by jealousy or the prospect of big lawsuit payouts. In his closing arguments, lead defense attorney Marc Agnifilo described his client’s relationship with Ventura – which his team has repeatedly acknowledged was toxic and abusive – as a “great modern love story.”
Combs held his hands in prayer and locked eyes with jurors, nodding his head and mouthing the words “thank you” multiple times. After the jury was ushered out of the room, Combs looked up at the ceiling in exultation.
Combs should serve more than four years in prison for his two prostitution-related convictions and remain locked up without bail until his sentencing, the government argued.
In a letter submitted to Judge Arun Subramanian after Wednesday’s verdict, prosecutors called Combs a flight risk and a danger to the community who is not eligible for bail, even after being acquitted of the most serious charges against him.
They said that during the trial, Combs “embraced the fact that he was a habitual drug user who regularly engaged in domestic abuse,” even though he denied committing the crimes he was charged with. “Additionally,” the letter continued, evidence at trial showed Combs “serially abused a former girlfriend, Casandra Ventura,” and “choked, kicked, and punched another girlfriend, Jane.”
About half of the letter was spent on a very technical calculation of federal sentencing guidelines, concluding that Combs should serve at least 51 to 63 months (just over four years to just over five years) for his convictions on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Prosecutors argued that this range might be even be higher once all the evidence presented at trial is taken into account.
There is expected to be a lengthy battle over Combs’ eventual sentence, which could be as high as 10 years per count or as low as nothing. So the immediate question is whether he is allowed to go free on bail while that takes place.