After weeks of bombshell testimony about drug-fueled ‘freak off’ sex sessions and heartbreaking details of abuse from alleged victims, a Manhattan jury found Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs not guilty of the most serious crimes he faced yet guilty on two counts related to prostitution.
In total, Combs was charged with racketeering conspiracy and two counts each of sex trafficking and transportation of individuals across state lines to engage in prostitution. The first two charges carried maximum sentences of life in prison, while the prostitution accusations may now put Combs away for up to 20 years.
On Monday, Judge Arun Subramanian delivered detailed instructions to the eight men and four women of the jury.
By Tuesday, the jurors had already returned to court to report that they had decided on four of the five charges, but were undecided on the racketeering counts. So, Judge Subramanian sent them back to deliberate further and just after 10:00 am eastern on Wednesday it was announced that they had reached their final verdicts.
This ends one of the most gripping federal trials in US history, leading many observers to question how the government could have built such a salacious and complex case against one of the most famous men in the world – only for it to result in this decision.
Daily Mail has reviewed all the evidence to determine what led to this shocking outcome.
Sean ‘ Diddy ‘ Combs not guilty of the most serious crimes he faced and guilty of two counts of transporting individuals across states lines for the purpose of prostitution.
This ends one of the most gripping federal trials in US history, leading many observers to question how the government could have built such a salacious and complex case against one of the most famous men in the world – only for it to result in this decision.
The ‘Criminal Enterprise’
The government alleged that Combs corruptly leverage his business empire, over a span of two decades, as a ‘criminal enterprise,’ using ‘violence, power and fear to get what he wanted.’
For these alleged crimes, prosecutors charged him with racketeering conspiracy, known as RICO, which is most commonly used against organized crime bosses.
‘Over the last several weeks, you’ve learned a lot about Sean Combs,’ said Assistant US Attorney Christy Slavik during her closing statements last week. ‘He’s the leader of a criminal enterprise. He doesn’t take no for an answer.’
In order to prove a RICO charge, the government had to convince the jury that Combs committed at least two specific crimes – that may have included bribery, forced labor and sexual assault – over the span of at least 10 years, demonstrating a pattern of organized criminal conduct.
Central to this allegation was testimony from an ex-hotel security guard, Eddy Garcia, who claimed that Combs paid him $100,000 cash, delivered in a brown paper bag, to hand over a copy of surveillance video showing Combs beating his long-time ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura as she tried to escape the InterContinental hotel in Los Angeles in 2016.
Ventura and Combs were reportedly engaged in an orgy with a male prostitute at the time when Ventura ran for it. The graphic video, first leaked to CNN, shocked the nation.
Garcia said Combs called him ‘Eddy, my angel’ after he deleted the footage from the hotel servers and emailed the video clip to Combs on a USB stick. Garcia testified that Combs told him, ‘I knew you could help. I knew you could do it.’ The former guard said he later gave some of the money to two other hotel employees and pocketed the remaining $30,000.
Central to this allegation was testimony from an ex-hotel security guard, Eddy Garcia, who claimed that Combs paid him $100,000 cash.
The surveillance video showed Combs (pictured left) beating his long-time ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura (pictured right) as she tried to escape the InterContinental hotel in Los Angeles in 2016.
Ventura and Combs were reportedly engaged in an orgy with a male prostitute at the time when Ventura ran for it. The graphic video shocked the nation.
According to the indictment, Combs also allegedly forced employees to work long hours, threatening them with both reputational and physical harm if they didn’t do his bidding.
Testimony to support the prosecution’s theory included allegations from ex-girlfriends Ventura and another woman only identified as ‘Jane,’ as well as Combs’ former assistant Capricorn Clark, who claimed Combs once ripped up her invoice for $80,000 worth of overtime worked.
Additionally, according to the prosecution, Combs refused to let his lover and employees sleep, goading them drugs to stay awake. Both Ventura and Jane testified that they required days to recover from ‘freak offs’ with Combs and suffered from frequent urinary tract infections.
But in a crushing blow to the prosecution’s case last week, they informed that judge that they were dropping several allegations related to the RICO charge, including alleged kidnapping and arson directed by Combs.
The kidnapping claims were first presented in court by Comb’s assistant, Clark. She testified that Combs took her against her will to the home of rapper Scott Mescudi, known as Kid Cudi, after learning that Ventura and Mescudi were romantically involved.
According to her testimony, Combs allegedly arrived at her Los Angeles apartment in December 2011 armed with a gun and demanded that Clark get dressed and go with him to Mescudi’s house. Clark claimed that Combs said they were ‘going to go kill’ the rapper.
Clark claimed that Combs left her in the car while he and one of his security guards searched the house. Then, she testified, he threatened to kill her if she reported him to the police.
Mescudi (pictured) was also at the center of an arson theory that was also dropped by the prosecution last week.
He testified that his car was bombed with a Molotov cocktail in January 2012.
Among the kidnapping claims presented in court were allegations from Clark (pictured).
Clark also testified about a separate incident in which Combs’ then head of security drove her to an abandoned building in Manhattan and subjected her to a lie detector test for five days after pieces of Combs’ jewelery had disappeared. If she failed, she was threatened with being thrown into the East River, she claimed.
Mescudi was also at the center of an arson theory that was also dropped by the prosecution last week. He testified that his car was bombed with a Molotov cocktail in January 2012. He said that he received a call from his dogsitter who informed him that his car was on fire. According to his testimony, there was a hole in the roof of his vehicle and the explosive was inside.
The musician said that he thought Combs was to blame, but Combs denied it at the time of the incident, and no charges were ever filed.
Sex Trafficking
Prosecutors also alleged that Combs sexually abused and coerced various women – with the focus of the charges on two of his long-term girlfriends, Cassie Ventura and another woman, only identified publicly as ‘Jane’.
For those alleged offenses, prosecutors charged Combs with two counts of sex trafficking, which are counts typically used in the cases involving minors. In order to secure a guilty verdict for sex trafficking, prosecutors must prove the alleged victims were forced into sex acts through force, fraud or coercion.
Here the video of Combs beating Ventura in the hallway of the InterContinental hotel loomed large, but there were numerous other accounts of Combs’s alleged abusive behavior.
Here, the video of Combs beating Ventura in the hallway of the InterContinental hotel loomed large.
Prosecutors also alleged that Combs sexually abused and coerced various women – with the focus of the charges on two of his long-term girlfriends, Cassie Ventura (pictured) and another woman, only identified publicly as ‘Jane’.
One of Combs’ former personal assistants, who testified under the name ‘Mia,’ said Diddy sexually assaulted her at a New York hotel months into her starting her job. She said in another incident, Combs forced her to perform oral sex on him.
‘It was very quick but felt like forever,’ Mia testified, who said she was often worried Combs would fire her and ‘twist the story into making me look like a threat.’ Mia also claimed that she saw the physical abuse Diddy inflicted on Ventura – as did others, including the male prostitutes recruited to take part in the ‘freak offs.’
‘I’ve seen him attack her. I’ve seen him throw her on the ground,’ said Mia in court. ‘I’ve seen him crack her head open. I’ve seen her chase her.’
In another extremely graphic portion of testimony, Daniel Phillip, a 41-year-old male escort, testified that he was paid between $700 and $6,000 on several occasions to have sex with Ventura while Combs watched and masturbated.
In one instance, Phillip claimed that Combs became angry at Ventura after she failed to follow his instructions during a ‘freak off.’ He claims Combs then dragged Ventura into a separate room and began beating her.
‘I could hear Cassie yelling, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ and then I could hear her again what sounded like she was being slapped or someone was being slapped around and slammed around the room,’ he testified.
‘My thought was that this was someone with ultimate power,’ Phillip added, ‘and chances are that even if I did go to the police, that I might still end up losing my life.’
During her emotional week-long testimony, Ventura, heavily pregnant on the witness stand, also testified about another shocking incident, during which Combs and a male escort allegedly urinated in her mouth during one marathon orgy.
‘It was disgusting, it was too much. I choked. No one could think I wanted it,’ said Ventura. When asked ‘how often’ such acts occurred, she replied ‘often enough.’
Ventura, heavily pregnant on the witness stand, also testified about another shocking incident, during which Combs and a male escort allegedly urinated in her mouth during one marathon orgy.
‘It was disgusting, it was too much. I choked. No one could think I wanted it,’ said Ventura. When asked ‘how often’ such acts occurred, she replied ‘often enough.’
‘The freak offs became a job,’ Cassie said, adding some of the sessions were up to 48 hours long. ‘Sean controlled a lot of my life, whether it was career, the way I dressed, everything, everything. I just didn’t have much say in it at the time.’
Indeed, at the center of the case were various text messages between Ventura and Combs during their on-again-off-again 11-year relationship.
These were seized upon by Combs’ legal team, who said that they undermined the prosecution’s claims that Combs’s victims were coerced.
In one August 5, 2009 text exchange, Combs asked Ventura, ‘When do you wanna freak off? Lol.’
Ventura replied: ‘Lol I’m just going up 2 change and put my ring in. I just picked it up … I’m always ready to freak off lolol.’
Jane’s testimony, too, was seeming compromised, according to some court observers, during cross-examination when she admitted that she still ‘loves’ Combs and became jealous when he was seen publicly parading other women during their relationship.
‘I was just made to be, just carry this impossible pressure and they weren’t asked to hold any of that pressure like I did,’ Jane testified. ‘I just thought it was unfair. All the nights with these men.’
Criminal defense attorney David Gelman told the Daily Mail that both Ventura and Jane’s testimony undermined the government’s case.
‘The prosecutors would need to show that they were all unwilling participants,’ Gelman explained, ‘I don’t see any force or coercion anywhere. People were paid but were doing this on their own free will.’
Male dancer Daniel Phillip, shown here in a court artist drawing, testified that he had been paid to travel for sexual services.
Sharay ‘The Punisher’ Hayes, another male dancer who had sex with Cassie, testified that Cassie obtained his information from his personal website and called him directly to book a bachelorette party performance.
Transportation to Engage in Prostitution
Finally, the government charged Combs with two counts of transportation for the purposes of prostitution, each carrying a maximum prison sentence of ten years.
These are the only charges on which the prosecution secured convictions, and legal observers have told the Daily Mail that they believe they were be overturned on appeal.
The specific counts alleged that Combs knowingly arranged for individuals – including Ventura, ‘Jane’ and two male escorts – to travel across state lines with the intent to engage in prostitution.
Prosecutors told jurors that, on multiple occasions from 2009 up to 2018, Combs paid for people to fly to cities across the world including New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Ibiza, to participate in ‘freak-offs.’
Two male escorts, Daniel Phillip and Sharay Hayes, testified that they had been paid to travel from one state to another for sexual services.
Hayes, also a male stripper, said Cassie obtained his information from his personal website and called him directly to book a bachelorette party performance. Both men testified they were expecting to perform for a party of women only to find Cassie and her ‘husband’, who turned out to be Diddy.
Attorneys for Combs pointed to the fact that the government had no direct proof to tie Combs to these plans but, instead, had only shown that arrangements had been made by Ventura herself or by other individuals in Combs’s employ.
Indeed, Gelman – a former state prosecutor – was doubtful that the jury could even find Combs guilty of these charges.
‘They don’t have [evidence of] Diddy actually making calls and paying the prostitutes,’ he said. ‘They have evidence that Cassie Ventura and other individuals working for Diddy set this up. So, to say beyond a reasonable doubt that it was Diddy is a bridge going way too far.’
