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    • What this means for the process – and his career
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    What this means for the process – and his career

    Vaseline Posted on

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    Sean “Diddy” Combs may be “fighting for his life” over federal and sex crime charges, according to legal experts.

    New York police on Monday arrested the beleaguered media mogul, who has spent the past year pursuing multiple civil lawsuits with alleged victims over allegations of misconduct spanning three decades. The next day, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced that Combs faces charges of sex trafficking, extortion and transportation to engage in prostitution.

    The charges, contained in a 14-page federal grand jury indictment made public Tuesday, reveal an extensive and ongoing federal investigation into the hip-hop icon. Investigators say the 54-year-old extensively attempted to use his finances and status in the entertainment industry to “gratify his sexual desires” in a “recurring and well-known” pattern of abuse.

    Combs has maintained his innocence in the civil lawsuits and pleaded not guilty to all charges on Tuesday. He will remain in jail until trial.

    Federal prosecutors have gathered enough evidence to indict Combs before a grand jury. But what does that mean for his upcoming legal battle — and ultimately, his career and reputation? Experts weigh in on the severity of the charges and the potential fate of the music industry’s self-proclaimed “bad boy.”

    Diddy Indictment Made Public: What is a Grand Jury?

    In criminal cases, a grand jury reviews evidence presented by the prosecution in a private court proceeding and determines whether there is probable cause to bring a defendant to trial. If the grand jurors, consisting of 16 to 23 people, find that there is sufficient evidence that a defendant committed a crime, an indictment can be filed in court.

    Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs denied bail after pleading not guilty to sex trafficking charges

    In Combs’ case, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said the evidence supporting his charges “includes documents obtained through more than 300 grand jury subpoenas and other voluntary submissions.” Williams’s detention letter, which asked the judge to order Combs jailed ahead of his trial, contained allegations of victim manipulation, including attempts to “hide” his actions from victims who received grand jury subpoenas in support of the prosecution’s investigation.

    Information presented by prosecutors includes subpoenaed witnesses who will appear before the grand jury. U.S. prosecutors have not released the identities of the witnesses they have subpoenaed in court.

    Investigators seized more than 90 cellphones, laptops, cloud storage accounts and at least 30 storage devices. They issued more than 300 grand jury subpoenas to obtain this evidence from communications providers, technology and social media companies, financial institutions and Combs’ companies.

    Lawyers have video evidence, dozens of witness statements about Diddy’s ‘freak-offs’ and more

    Prosecutors say they have “dozens” of videos showing Combs’ so-called “freak offs” — sometimes days-long sex performances between sex workers and people he allegedly coerced into participating through drugs and intimidation — that corroborate witness accounts. Combs and the alleged victims “were given IV fluids to recover from the physical exertion and drug use,” the grand jury indictment said.

    The indictment also alleges that Homeland Security Investigations agents obtained drugs and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant that were allegedly used in Combs’ “freak offs” during the March 25 raids on Combs’ homes. Multiple AR-15 rifles and high-capacity magazines were also allegedly discovered.

    The wealth of evidence prosecutors say they have against Combs is one reason why Anna Cominsky, an associate professor of law and director of the Criminal Defense Clinic at New York Law School, believes the defense faces an “uphill battle.”

    Combs’ federal case is substantively different from “the he-said-she-said that you see in some cases of sexual abuse or assault, where the defendant’s word is against the victim’s word and vice versa,” she told USA TODAY. “We’re talking about the potential for dozens of people to come before the court and testify about this alleged conduct.”

    “Dozens of victims and witnesses have provided detailed, credible, and corroborated information against the defendant. These individuals include many who personally witnessed and experienced violence and other crimes committed by the defendant,” Williams wrote in a Sept. 17 letter to a U.S. magistrate judge arguing for Combs to be sentenced to prison until he can stand trial. “Moreover, their accounts are well supported by substantial extrinsic evidence.”

    What has happened so far: Diddy remains in jail after pleading not guilty

    Extortion Meaning: Why Is Diddy Facing RICO Charges?

    The racketeering charges against Combs are “very serious,” Cominsky said, “because they allege not only that Mr. Combs engaged in illegal activity, but that he did so as part of a larger enterprise.”

    But what is racketeering? It’s participation in an illegal scheme, and the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 established the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Statute, or RICO, as a way for the U.S. government to prosecute organizations that contribute to criminal activity.

    Diddy accused of ‘freaking off’ sex parties, violence, abuse. What happened to ‘transparency’?

    RICO seeks to “uncover the entire inner workings of these organizations. These organizations may not be criminal in isolation, but together they are part of the criminal activities of this criminal enterprise,” Cominsky said.

    According to Combs’ indictment, his racketeering activities included “multiple forms of kidnapping,” arson, bribery, witness tampering, forced labor, sex trafficking, transportation for purposes of prostitution and narcotics distribution.

    Sex trafficking and RICO case ‘can’t get much worse’: Is Diddy comparable to R. Kelly?

    New York criminal defense attorneys say Combs’ trial, scheduled for the Southern District of New York, will be legally challenging.

    “It can’t get much worse than this,” said Julie Rendelman, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor in New York City. “The federal government generally doesn’t go into someone’s home unless they think they’re going to find something, and more importantly, they don’t press charges unless they think they have the stuff.”

    Authorities have similarly brought racketeering charges against disgraced R&B superstar R. Kelly, who is serving more than 30 years in prison for sex trafficking and extortion, among other charges. He was tried and convicted of running a criminal enterprise that sexually exploited people, including minors, throughout his career.

    “R. Kelly and Combs were alleged to be the leaders of these criminal enterprises, meaning that there were other individuals working under or for that (organization). That’s what constitutes the idea of ​​a criminal enterprise,” Cominsky said. She added that this is “different than a single or multiple allegations of sexual assault or criminal sexual activity against an individual, where it’s just that one individual that is accused of being involved in that criminal activity.”

    The racketeering charge is so significant, Cominsky says, that “I don’t see why they need to add other charges to make it more serious. The racketeering charge alone carries the potential for a life sentence, just like the sex trafficking charge. So you’re talking about some of the most serious offenses.”

    Matthew Galluzzo, a former prosecutor who worked on sex crimes cases and currently practices as a criminal defense attorney in New York, agrees.

    Galluzzo said Combs’ alleged criminal activities “have been under investigation for months – maybe years. They’ve been investigating this case.”

    Federal prosecutors “don’t bring cases unless they’re confident they’re going to win,” Rendelman says, explaining that investigations into cases like Combs’ require broad access to witnesses and information from multiple agencies obtained through subpoenas.

    Federal sex trafficking cases carry a mandatory minimum sentence of at least 15 years, and Combs “could potentially go even longer,” Galluzzo said. The maximum penalty for a federal sex trafficking charge is life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

    “(Prosecutors) are going to seek a long sentence for Sean Combs,” Galluzzo said.

    What impact will this have on Diddy’s career and reputation?

    Galluzo believes that if Combs is found guilty, the Bad Boy Records founder “will probably die in prison. The chances are good. He’s fighting for his life.”

    “If he is convicted, there will certainly be no music career,” Rendelman said.

    Two judges have denied Combs’ requests to be released from federal custody on $50 million bail, reportedly citing the risk of witness tampering and obstruction in his case. It also makes it harder for his lawyers to fight Combs’ charges, Cominsky says.

    Combs “is going to fight this from a prison cell,” Cominsky said. “And it’s extremely difficult to help a client when they’re incarcerated. You just don’t have access to them. They don’t have the same access to you that you have when they’re out. And that’s a huge hurdle.”

    Before his legal troubles began, the MTV Video Music Awards celebrated Combs’ “unparalleled” career by presenting him with the 2023 Global Icon Award in September. Days later, the Harlem-born Combs received a ceremonial key to New York City in a ceremony coinciding with the release of his latest record, “The Love Album: Off the Grid.”

    But two months later, Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura opened a floodgate of civil suits against Combs when the singer sued him for years of alleged abuse. Since then, at least a half-dozen civil lawsuits have been filed against Combs.

    Galluzzo sees the damage to Combs’ career as irreversible, regardless of the outcome of the trial. “Will he ever work again if he wins this case? The allegations are quite disturbing and quite horrific,” he says.

    If you are a victim of sexual abuse, RAIN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) en Hotline.RAINN.org en en Español RAINN.org/es.

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