What to know about Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial
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A dingy Manhattan jail is a precipitous fall for champagne-swilling hip-hop impresario Sean “Diddy” Combs.
It’s a far cry from the 1990s and early 2000s when he was the king of the charts and in the process created a music and fashion empire that made him a billionaire.
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But that was then. After decades of dodging and weaving with the cops, Combs, 55, was hammered last September with a slew of lurid sexual abuse allegations. Alleged victims were women, men, the famous, the average, the young, and the old.
When federal prosecutors indicted Combs, the curtains were pulled back on alleged escapades that had only been rumours.
Now, Combs is going on trial in New York City. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. The man formerly known as P. Diddy has denied any wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty.
Here’s your cheat sheet.
WHAT THE FEDS SAY
The cornerstone of the prosecution’s case is Combs’ notorious “Freak Off” parties, where he would play ringmaster to what was described as “elaborate and produced sex performances.” The rapper allegedly orchestrated orgies in hotels and at his mansions. The feds charged that mind-numbing drug use occurred along with forced sex with unwitting and unwilling victims.
The feds said: “(Combs) abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”
JEFFREY EPSTEIN JR.?
Like the billionaire pedophile financier, the feds say Combs used his employees, resources and influence to erect a firewall around himself. In the process, investigators say Combs was “creating a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labour, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.”
WHAT’S HE CHARGED WITH?
The fallen hip-hop mogul is charged with racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. The sentences range from 10 years to life in prison.
NOT SO FAST!
Combs’ pricey legal eagles are painting a different picture. They say that his accusers are “former long-term girlfriends, who were involved in consensual relationships. This was their private sex life, defined by consent, not coercion.”
THE ACCUSERS
There are four alleged victims, each designated with a number from one through four. All are expected to testify against Combs. While the victims have not been named publicly, media reports suggest that the allegations coming from Victim 1 mirror those of his ex-girlfriend, singer Casandra Ventura (AKA Cassie).
In 2023, Ventura filed a civil suit accusing the rapper of rape and physical abuse she claimed lasted for a decade. The suit was privately settled in a day. He did not admit any wrongdoing.
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AND THIS!
CNN aired video taken from the CCTV of a posh hotel in 2016, and it showed Diddy violently battering Ventura with punches and kicks. And that bit of footage appears poised to come back to haunt Combs: The judge has ruled it can be shown as evidence. His team wanted it torpedoed, calling it “wholly inaccurate.”
COMBS’ GHISLAINE MAXWELL?
One nagging question is where Combs Enterprises’ chief of staff Kristina Khorram fits into the picture. Khorram has been called the rapper’s “right hand,” his “Ghislaine Maxwell,” and his “manipulator in chief.” If anyone knows where the skeletons in Diddy’s closet are, it’s her.
One source told the New York Post: “If anybody is gatekeeper, Kristina would know everything.” Khorram has not been arrested or charged with any crime and is not named in the indictment. But the indictment said “certain employees,” carried out, facilitated and covered up his abuse and commercial sex ring.” The facilitators organized the so-called “freak offs.” She has denied the “horrific allegations.”
FUN FACT!
In addition to drugs, when the feds raided Diddy’s various mansions, they seized more than “1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant.”
LIL ROD SAYS…
Rap producer Lil Rod claimed in his lawsuit against Diddy that Khoram ordered up hookers for her boss and organized the freak offs. Domestic help were allegedly required to carry fanny packs loaded with dope, including cocaine, GHB, ecstasy, marijuana gummies and a pink drug called Tuci — a combination of ecstasy and cocaine.
QUOTE
His suit stated: “(Khorram) knowingly and intentionally participated in, perpetrated, assisted, supported, and facilitated a sex-trafficking Venture. (She was) instrumental in organizing and executing the (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) enterprise.”
LEGAL EAGLES
Veteran criminal lawyer Marc Antony Agnifilo is no stranger to the spotlight. He has represented NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere, former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng, former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli.
THE PROSECUTION
An all-woman team of prosecutors is tackling Diddy. One of them is Maureen Comey, the prosecutor who sent Ghislaine Maxwell to prison for 20 years for sex trafficking.
HOW LONG?
The trial is expected to last eight to 10 weeks. Combs is being held without bail.
@HunterTOSun
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