Jurors Begin Deliberations in Diddy Trial After Weeks of Bombshell Testimony

A Manhattan jury has started deliberating in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal racketeering and sex-trafficking trial on Monday, June 30.

Combs, 55, is charged with racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.

If convicted, the Bad Boy Records founder could face life in prison.   

Thirty-four witnesses testified during the seven-week bombshell trial including his ex-girlfriend and the prosecution’s star witness Casandra “Cassie” Ventura.

Prosecutors argued that Combs coerced Ventura — who testified she was forced to have sex with male escorts and urinated on — and another woman who testified under the pseudonym “Jane,” to participate in drug-fueled sex sessions called “freak off” parties or “hotel nights” that sometimes lasted for days.

Combs is also accused of running a criminal enterprise over two decades with the help of his staff and inner circle that committed crimes that included arson, bribery and kidnapping.

“The defendant used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Slavik said during closing arguments. “He thought that his fame, wealth and power put him above the law.”

Combs, she said, enlisted his “close inner circle and a small army of personal staff, who made it their mission to meet the defendant’s every desire, promote his power and protect his reputation at all costs.”

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

His defense attorney argued that Combs was innocent.

“Return him to his family, who have been waiting for him,” Marc Agnifilo said.

During the trial, the jury was also shown the infamous video of Combs chasing, beating and kicking Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016. She said the assault took place when she was trying to leave a freak off.

There were also plenty of dramatic moments outside the explosive testimony.

At one point, earlier in the trial, a woman yelled “Diddy” and several profanities before Judge Arun Subramanian ordered her removed from the courtroom.

“These motherf—ers are laughing at you,” the woman yelled at Combs.

She then said, “you’re laughing at a black man’s legacy” and “pull your gun out ninja, I dare you.”

After jurors left the courtroom to deliberate Monday, Judge Subramanian complimented both the prosecutors and defense attorneys for their great lawyering, stating the case was “exceptionally tried by both sides.”

Agnifilo asked whether Combs could bring books back to the holding cell and Judge Subramanian said that was fine.