By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs dropped to his knees and prayed in the courtroom after he was acquitted Wednesday of sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could have put one of hip-hop’s celebrated figures behind bars for life. The rapper was convicted of lesser prostitution-related offenses and denied bail as he awaits sentencing.
His lawyer Marc Agnifilo called the verdict a “great victory” and said the jury “got the situation right — or certainly right enough” as he stood outside Manhattan federal court at a stand of microphones. “Today is a victory of all victories.”
The mixed verdict capped a sordid legal odyssey that shattered Combs’ affable “Puff Daddy” image and derailed his career as a Grammy-winning artist and music executive, fashion entrepreneur, brand ambassador and reality TV star.
“I’ll see you when I get out,” Combs told family members including his mother and children just before leaving the courtroom to return to jail. “We’re going to get through this.”
Combs stands convicted of two counts of a crime — transportation to engage in prostitution — that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. But jurors cleared him of three charges, two of which carried a mandatory 15 years and a maximum of life.
He was convicted of flying people around the country, including his girlfriends and male sex workers, to engage in sexual encounters, a felony violation of the federal Mann Act.
Combs’ lawyers said that under federal sentencing guidelines, he would likely face about two years in prison. Prosecutors, citing Combs’ violence and other factors, said the guidelines would call for at least four to five years. Locked up since his September arrest, Combs has already served nine months.
“We fight on and we’re going to win,” Agnifilo said. “And we’re not going to stop until he walks out of prison a free man to his family.”
Acquittal on the most serious charges
In a triumph for Combs, the jury of eight men and four women acquitted him of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges related to allegations that he used his money, power and frightening physical force to manipulate girlfriends into hundreds of drug-fueled sex marathons with men.
Combs’ defense team argued that the women were willing participants and that none of his violence justified the severity of the charges.
Agnifilo asked that Combs be released on bond immediately to await sentencing, saying the acquittals changed the calculus about whether he needed to be held.
“He’s not going to flee. He’s been given his life back,” Agnifilo said.
Judge Arun Subramanian denied it, saying Combs — for now — had not met the burden of showing by clear and convincing evidence a “lack of danger to any person or the community.”