Sean “Diddy” Combs faces racketeering and sex trafficking charges
We’re in the fourth week of the federal criminal trial for Sean “Diddy” Combs in New York, where the music mogul faces charges that include racketeering conspiracy, transportation to engage in prostitution and sex trafficking, crimes that the government claims spanned over two decades.
Combs has pleaded not guilty and denied all allegations of wrongdoing. The trial is estimated to last eight weeks, although prosecutors have indicated that they may rest their case earlier which could move up the timeline –– before the jury is asked to render a verdict.
Frank Piazza is on the stand. Assistant US Attorney Madison Smyser is questioning Piazza for the government. Piazza is a forensic audio and video editor.
Frank Piazza testified that he enhanced 10 “sex videos” that were recovered from a laptop. Prosecutors said that Cassie Ventura turned the laptop over to the government.
The videos — originally recorded in 2012 and 2014 — were recovered from the “Frank Black” user profile on the laptop, prosecutor Madison Smyser said as she entered the videos into evidence under seal.
Piazza also enhanced the audio on another sexually explicit video.
Here’s what we learned during yesterday’s testimony in the Combs’ trial
A former hotel security officer and a financial executive for Bad Boy Entertainment took the stand yesterday in the Sean “Diddy” Combs federal racketeering and sex trafficking trial.
The money-focused testimony came as the prosecution sought to prove that Combs created a criminal enterprise using his business empire that aided him in coercing women into “Freak Offs” and to protect his image.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Prosecutors continue presenting their case today. Here’s how a trial works:
Here’s what we learned from Eddy Garcia, who worked as a security officer at the InterContinental Hotel in March 2016:
Garcia testified that Combs gave him $100,000 in cash to obtain surveillance video of Combs assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura.
He said that shortly after the assault, Kristina Khorram — who identified herself to Garcia as Combs’ personal assistant — called hotel security and visited the hotel, asking to view or obtain a copy of the video.
Combs had Garcia sign paperwork, including a declaration that it was the only existing copy of the video and a non-disclosure agreement, according to Garcia.
Garcia testified he was contacted by law enforcement in June 2024 about the incident and said he wasn’t honest about his own involvement in the situation at the time.
Here’s what we learned from Derek Ferguson, the former chief financial officer at Bad Boy Entertainment, who testified about the overlap of Combs’ personal and business finances:
Ferguson said Combs would charge business and personal expenses on his corporate card “from time to time.” Ferguson said members of his team would determine which business or entity a charge pertained to, and then they’d use that business’s account to pay that charge.
The jury saw December 2011 bank statements for Combs’ bank account for his home in Alpine, New Jersey. The records matched up with testimony from Regina Ventura, Cassie Ventura’s mother, who said she wired $20,000 to Bad Boy at Combs’ request because she was “scared about my daughter’s safety” after Cassie Ventura sent her a text saying Combs was going to release sexually explicit videos and threatened to have her physically hurt.