Sean “Diddy” Combs and his legal team scored a “huge victory” on Wednesday when he was found guilty on only two of five charges brought against him, former U.S. prosecutor — and former attorney for President Trump — Jim Trusty told Fox News.
“Look, it’s a huge victory for P. Diddy, that’s the reality of it … The RICO [charge] was always something that was legally available, but innovative and difficult,” Trusty said.
He continued: “When you are talking about one-person RICO [cases], I kept waiting for other witnesses to come in and say, ‘I too pled guilty to RICO conspiracy.’ That never happened. I kept waiting for maybe an expert witness to describe how women — in the course of being trafficked — will have conflicting loyalties and conflicting emotions. That never happened.”
Combs was found guilty on two counts of prostitution by a New York jury on Wednesday, and not guilty of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.
Following the verdict, Trusty said it was a “fairly rink-a-dink conviction” and little more than a “glorified prostitution” bust.
Trusty served as a prosecutor for 27 years and specialized in RICO and fraud cases before moving into private practice. More recently, he was President Donald Trump’s attorney in the years between his first and second terms in the White House; Trusty quit as Trump’s attorney in 2023, citing “irreconcilable differences.”
He added on Wednesday that, because Combs was only found guilty on two lesser charges, he has a good chance of getting out of federal custody (the transportation to engage in prostitution charges each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years).
“Man oh man, I think he’s got a shot at the release. And the sentencing guidelines that will be applied to his case have just dropped off a cliff,” Trusty said. “It’s a very different conviction now than it would have been with the sex trafficking or the RICO charges.”
The post Diddy Verdict Is a ‘Huge Victory’ for Rapper, Trump’s Former Attorney Tells Fox News appeared first on TheWrap.