‘Diddy’ denied bail after being cleared of most serious charges

A judge refused the release under bail to Sean “Diddy” Combs after a jurie condemned the hip-hop transport magnate to engage in prostitution, but acquitted it from the most serious accusations: racketeering and sex traffic.

The recording artist’s lawyers had argued that he had no risk of theft, stressing that his jet is chartered in Hawaii.

But judge Arun Subramanian cited the history of the violence of Combs when he judged that the rapper had to remain behind bars until the conviction later this year when he risks up to 20 years in prison.

In the federal trial of almost two months in New York, the prosecutors accused the Combs of using its celebrity status and its commercial empire to manage a criminal business in sexual traffic.

A panel of 12 jurors deliberated for 13 hours before acquiring the comb of three of the five most serious accusations.

He will continue to be detained in the same federal prison in Brooklyn where he has been detained since last September.

The conviction was temporarily scheduled for October 3.

Combs lawyer Marc AGINFILO, made a passionate argument for the judge to disclose his client.

Defense lawyer said Combs had attended a program for the perpetrators of domestic violence to try to reform his conduct, even before his stop and that he had not been violent since 2018.

“I just think we should trust him,” said Agnifilo.

But the ex-girlfriend of Combs, the musician Casandra Ventura, had warned the court in a letter that the hip-hop magnate would pose a danger if he was released.

The rapper had recognized domestic violence, but denied any non -consensual sexual encounters or a greater racketeering diet.

Subramanian judge said the surety was refused because “defense has conceded violence in his personal relationship”.

The atmosphere in court was emotional after the jurors announced that they had acquitted the comb of the most serious accusations of racketeering and sex trafficking.

Sex trafficking and racketeering both have a maximum sentence in life prison.

While Combs learned the verdict, he kneel, put his face in his chair and seemed to pray. He was shaking.

The verdict occurs one day after the jurors declared in court that they had made a decision on sexual trafficking and transport to initiate accusations of prostitution against Combs, but could not decide on the racketeering.

The jurors said that they had had “non -persuadable” opinions on both sides about the charge, which was the most complicated of all the counts that the Combs were confronted.

Racket’s plot, or direct an illegal company under the law on influenced and corrupt organizations (Rico), is the official name of the accusation.

To condemn the combs on this accusation, the prosecutors had to prove that he used his faithful network of partners to manage a criminal business to commit crimes, including sexual traffic, kidnapping, drugs and obstruction to justice.

Defense lawyers argued that the case could not be considered a racketeering if the staff of Combs were not knowingly accomplices.

Prosecutors called more than 30 witnesses during the seven -week trial, including Ms. Ventura, rapper Kid Cudi, several ex-employees and hotel workers.

They alleged Combs had relied on the employees to force his partners to “monsters”, in which his friends would have sex with a male escort while he looked and spun.

The government relied on the testimony of Ms. Ventura, who took the position of the witness when she was eight months pregnant, saying in court That Combs had put her pressure on sexual acts and threatened to release cassettes from monsters if she disobeyed herself.

Ms. Ventura warned on Wednesday that Combs would represent a danger if he was endorsed.

In a letter tabled in court, his lawyer Douglas Wigdor wrote: “Ms. Ventura thinks that Mr. Combras is likely to pose a danger for the victims who testified in this case, including itself, as well as for the community.”

In the center of their case was a video of the beating rapper and dragging Ms. Ventura in a corridor of the Los Angeles Hotel in 2016 – Surveillance images that the security employees said that Combs tried to pay them to delete.

Combs lawyers have conceded that their client was violent towards women, but argued that his behavior was motivated by drugs and jealousy, not proof of a greater sex trafficking and racketeering.

Combs also faces dozens of civil proceedings alleging sexual assault and violence.

The rapper born in Harlem founded Bad Boy Records in 1993, a label which represented some of the biggest names in Hip Hop – including Notorious Big and Usher.

He then established a line of clothing called Sean John and a variety of other companies, including perfumes, alcohol and even a media business.