Sean Combs Guilty of Prostitution, Acquitted on Other Charges

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Source: Bloomberg Law

Sean “Diddy” Combs was acquitted Wednesday on the top charges of racketeering and sex trafficking, but convicted of lesser charges of transporting prostitutes.

The verdict means Combs escaped the possibility of a life sentence though he still faces a maximum of 20 years on the two prostitution charges.

The 12-person jury in Manhattan federal court returned the mixed verdict after three days of deliberations.

The verdict followed a seven-week trial during which prosecutors said Combs ran a criminal enterprise and forced women into dayslong, drug-fueled sex parties with escorts. The defense argued the government exaggerated Combs’ behavior and criminalized consensual if complicated relationships.

The conviction for transporting a prostitute across state lines stems allegations that Combs paid sex workers to come to his “freak-off” parties. Each count carries a 10-year maximum.

The acquittal for racketeering, which carried a maximum of life, stemmed from allegations that Combs conspired with bodyguards and business partners to commit a number of crimes, including kidnapping, arson, bribery, and drug distribution. The charge has historically been used to take down mob bosses like John Gotti.

Read more: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/new-york-brief/sean-combs-guilty-of-prostitution-cleared-of-trafficking-rico

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[Oopsie Daisy]

1. Federal charges... I wonder how he'll convince Trump to pardon him.

Birds of a feather, and all... or something.

[Ray Bruns]

8. "I wonder how he'll convince Trump to pardon him"

[Oopsie Daisy]

11. Make it rain!

[Prairie Gates]

2. No chance he gets 20 years on two Mann Act convictions

I hate this stupid journalism convention of taking the max sentence and then adding it consecutively to generate the highest possible number. It's so deceptive. Each of the Mann Act convictions can - in theory - get you 10 years, but that's with absolutely sky-high negatives on all sentencing criteria. It would be completely unheard of to sentence him consecutively for these. So, let's start with a max of 10 years, which is something that approximates reality. Now remove all the negative sentencing issues that would add months beyond the minimum. In reality, Sean Combs is probably facing 2-3 years in prison, of which he will have already served 10 months. There's a decent chance that he will be required to serve less than 16 additional months in prison, and will in reality only serve 13 months.

[AZJonnie]

4. Which is probably fair considering that paying a prostitute of legal age who doesn't cross state lines

probably gets you more like community service and probation for a first offense. The idea that 'crossing state lines' should logically make the sentence considerably worse is pretty random in my book, especially in consideration of the fact that the history of the Mann Act is has been quite racist in it's (rare) implementation, even if it's original intent was not so much. Originally it was written to keep young white women down on the farm instead of heading off to the big city.

[Prairie Gates]

6. Completely agree

These charges (the Mann Act counts) would not even be filed in 99 out of 100 cases. They were an add-on to make the more dubious trafficking and racketeering charges seem more believable.

[FredGarvin]

3. Gonna be a big fine.

And maybe a month in PC.

[question everything]

5. As Bill Maher predicted

[angrychair]

7. Money talks

If you're rich enough you can, very apparently, get away with anything.

[Mosby]

9. What a joke.

Nt.

[Joinfortmill]

10. The bum got lucky.

[quakerboy]

12. The rich guy got what he paid for

No luck involved.

[Joinfortmill]

13. Are you talking about his defense? My understanding is they didn't put one on.

[Prairie Gates]

16. His defense attorney absolutely destroyed most of the government witnesses on cross

They didn't need to call any witnesses themselves. The trafficking and RICO charges were preposterous.

This jury got it right.

[Tarzanrock]

14. He didn't need to put on a "defense."

The incompetent prosecution failed to prove the case against him beyond a reasonable doubt -- even the RICO charges. There was little,
if any, merit to most of the prosecution's case other than some entertainment trial about sex and perversion. Even incompetent lawyers can usually convince a jury to convict on RICO. This trial was a joke!

[Joinfortmill]

15. Well, ok.