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@abc15Jurors started deliberating Monday at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal sex trafficking trial, weighing charges that could put the hip-hop mogul in prison for life.
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Jury Starts Deliberations in Diddy Sex-Trafficking, Racketeering Trial
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A 12-member federal jury began deliberations Monday in the sex-trafficking and racketeering case against music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs after receiving more than two hours of instructions from U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian. The panel, made up of eight men and four women, is weighing five felony counts that carry a potential maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum of 15 years if Combs is convicted on the most serious charges.
Prosecutors allege that Combs led a criminal enterprise that used intimidation, drugs and violence to coerce women into sexual encounters—so-called “freak-offs” or “hotel nights”—and that he transported sex workers across state lines. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Slavik told jurors the defendant “used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted,” pointing to video footage of Combs beating former girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura in a 2016 Los Angeles hotel and testimony from 34 witnesses, including Ventura and another ex-girlfriend who testified under the pseudonym “Jane.”
Combs, who has pleaded not guilty, declined to testify, and his lawyers called no witnesses. Lead defense attorney Marc Agnifilo argued that the encounters were consensual and portrayed the prosecution as an overreach aimed at criminalizing the entrepreneur’s private life. Deliberations continue in Manhattan federal court; no timetable has been set for a verdict.
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