Combs acquitted of sex trafficking, convicted on lesser charges

3/7/2025 6:18

With their client caught on tape beating one of his former

girlfriends, Sean "Diddy" Combs' lawyers at his sex trafficking

trial never sought to deny that he was



physically abusive.



Instead, their trial strategy focused on convincing jurors

that there was no direct link between what they called domestic

violence and two of Combs' ex-girlfriends' decisions to take

part drug-fueled sex marathons with paid male escorts.



Legal experts said the argument appeared to have been

successful, with jurors voting to acquit Combs, 55, on the most

serious charges of



racketeering conspiracy



and sex trafficking. Combs was convicted on two counts of

transportation to engage in prostitution, a lesser offense.



"His attorneys were smart and they owned the bad facts,"

said Anna Cominsky, a professor at New York Law School. "They

fought on the things that mattered and it paid off."



The verdict spared Combs, who founded Bad Boy Records and is

credited with popularizing hip-hop in American culture, a

potential life sentence.



He faces up to



10 years in prison



on each prostitution count. Prosecutors acknowledged in a

court filing that federal sentencing guidelines appeared to

recommend a maximum sentence of about 5-1/4 years. Combs'

lawyers argued that two years would be the outer limit.



The jury's deliberations took place behind closed doors, and

the reasoning of their decision is not known.



But legal experts said the defense put forth a strong case

that Combs' romantic relationships may have been combustible and

at times violent, but that his conduct did not meet the

definition of sex trafficking.



Defense lawyers argued that both of his former girlfriends

who testified, the rhythm and blues singer



Casandra Ventura



and a woman known in court by the pseudonym Jane, loved

Combs and consensually took part in the sexual performances to

make him happy.







'A DIFFERENT SCENARIO'



To convict Combs of sex trafficking, prosecutors would have

had to show that Combs used force, fraud or coercion to compel

Ventura and Jane to take part in ecstasy-fueled, days-long

sexual performances with male sex workers sometimes known as "



Freak Offs



." Both women testified that during the encounters, Combs

would watch, masturbate, and occasionally film.



The case differed from recent high-profile sex trafficking

convictions, including those of British socialite



Ghislaine Maxwell



and rhythm and blues singer



R. Kelly



.



Those cases involved underage victims, meaning prosecutors

did not have to prove a lack of consent in order to secure a

conviction. At Combs' trial, prosecutors had the burden of

proving beyond a reasonable doubt that adult women, who said

they loved Combs and had consensual sex with him many times, did

not consent to the "Freak Offs" on certain occasions.



"This was a very different scenario than what we usually see

with sex trafficking cases," said Sarah Krissoff, a former

federal prosecutor in Manhattan and current partner at law firm

Cozen O'Connor. "These were messy, toxic, violent relationships

with lots of drama."



Combs' defense lawyers did not deny the sex acts or his

abuse. But they emphasized that Ventura and Jane were

independent women capable of making their own choices.



During cross-examination of the government's witnesses,

the defense brought jurors' attention to sexually explicit text

messages in which the women expressed affection for Combs.

Both said that at times took part in the sexual performances to

make Combs happy, and that they participated well after brutal

beatings by Combs, who was also known during his career as Puff

Daddy and P. Diddy.



"She was always free to leave," defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo

said in his closing argument on June 27, referring to Ventura.

"She chose to stay because she was in love with him, and he was

in love with her."



The Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office, which brought the

case, said in a statement after the verdict, "The disturbing

reality is that sex crimes are all too present in many aspects

of our society."







'THEY DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE'

Prosecutors had argued that Combs' violence and

threats, combined with the fact that the male escorts were paid,

meant his conduct amounted to sex trafficking.



They pointed to testimony from both Ventura and Jane that

Combs threatened to cut off financial support or release sex

tapes if they sought to end the encounters, and showed jurors a

hotel surveillance video of Combs attacking Ventura in a

hallway.



"No was never an option for Cassie," prosecutor Maurene

Comey told jurors in her final argument on June 27. "No could

mean losing her career, her livelihood, her home, her physical

safety."



To try to undermine the defense argument that Ventura and

Jane took part in the "Freak Offs" consensually, prosecutors

called forensic psychologist Dawn Hughes to testify as an expert

witness.



Hughes testified on May 21 that victims of sexual violence

can form a "trauma bond" with their perpetrators that can make

it difficult for the victims to leave an abusive relationship.



In his closing argument, Agnifilo urged jurors to rely on

their own intuitions about human relationships rather than

expert testimony.



"They didn't always like him, but they loved him," Agnifilo

said, referring to several of the government's witnesses. "They

didn't want to leave him."