Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing five charges in a blockbuster sex trafficking trial, but will he be found guilty? CNN’s Elizabeth Wagmeister asks former prosecutor Elie Honig to predict the outcome.

New York

Sean 'Diddy' Combs is currently facing five criminal charges: one for racketeering conspiracy, two for sex trafficking, and two for transportation to engage in prostitution. Legal analysts note that the prosecution's evidence for the transportation charges appears strong, with flight and hotel records presented, but these charges carry lower penalties compared to the others.

Experts explain that convictions on the lower charges could result in a few years of prison time, especially as Combs has no prior convictions. The sex trafficking charges require proof of force, fraud, or coercion, making them more serious and harder to prove. The racketeering conspiracy charge is described as more complex, with prosecutors facing challenges in defining the alleged criminal enterprise. Predictions suggest a conviction on the lesser charges is likely, while outcomes on the more serious charges remain uncertain.

Will Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs serve jail time?

Sean Combs is facing five charges, one for racketeering conspiracy, two for sex trafficking, and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Let's start with those two counts. It appears that this is where the prosecution has likely proved the charges. They have shown flight records, they have shown hotel records. This is the lowest hanging fruit for prosecutors, the easiest charges to prove, and also the lowest penalties, as you say. All the prosecutors really have to show is that Sean Combs knew about and participated somehow in transporting somebody over a state line for the purpose of prostitution or other illegal sex acts. The evidence seems fairly straightforward on that, and as you said, the penalties on that are going to be much lower than the other penalties on the other higher charges. So he faces two counts. They hold up to 10 years if convicted. What do you think is actually realistic there? Always be wary of these maximums because it's very rare that somebody gets the max sentence, especially a first-time offender as Combs would be if he's convicted. He has no prior convictions. Realistically, if the only conviction here is for that interstate trafficking for prostitution, he'd be looking at a few years if you look at the sentencing guidelines. Judges have a lot of discretion, but this is not going to be 10 years or anything like that. Let's move on to sex trafficking. What do the prosecutors have to prove? Basically it's similar to the lower charges, except there's one added element, which is force, fraud, or coercion. Prosecutors have to show that there was sex trafficking of these two women and that they were either forced or coerced or threatened. That's what elevates this to a much more serious charge. All right, now let's get to the racketeering conspiracy. Buzzword. Everyone loves it. Everyone loves it. How high is the bar? They just have to prove two of them. Is that correct? Yeah. So I used to charge this all the time. A racketeering enterprise, as charged here, means there's some sort of ongoing organization that's systematically committing two or more crimes. Now, traditionally, when I used to charge it, it was in your more obvious areas, mob families. They have ranks. They have chains of command. Here, what charges the Combs enterprise is, to me, at the end of trial, a bit more amorphous. It's a little harder to understand exactly what is the criminal enterprise here? What's the business? What's the structure? And I think prosecutors struggled with that a bit to articulate that. What prosecutors have to establish is there is such an enterprise, and that it engaged in what we call a pattern of racketeering, meaning two or more interrelated crimes. And to that end, prosecutors have alleged a whole slew of crimes. All right, final question. What is your prediction? Oh my gosh, I try to avoid predictions. I'll do it for you. But you're not working on this. So you can give a prediction. I think that the jury is going to convict him on the lowest two charges, the interstate sex trafficking. I do not think they're going to convict him on the RICO conspiracy. I think they're either going to hang or acquit. And then, I'm punting a little bit here, but the ballgame is going to be that sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion. If they convict him on that, that's a win for the prosecutors. That's enough. If they don't convict him on that, if all they convict on is the lowest charges, that's going to be a setback for prosecutors.

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